Lucian stared at Ashley sleeping quietly on his lap, then lifted his gaze to Primo. The boy looked back at him curiously.

Before he could say anything, Ashley let out a soft groan.

"Ugh..." She stirred and opened her eyes, catching Primo standing nearby. "Hmm?"

She blinked slowly, sitting up. "Primo, why are you still up?"

[It’s still early.]

"Huh?" She glanced at the television, where the time was displayed below the news ticker. Eight in the evening. "Fair enough. Have you eaten?"

Primo shook his head, walked over, and took her hand. With his free hand, he signed:

[Can you help me with my homework?]

Ashley smiled. "Of course."

She glanced at Lucian, who gave her a subtle nod.

With that, Ashley and Primo headed off together, the boy casting one last look back at his father before they disappeared from view.

Lucian watched them go. Once they were out of sight, he reached for his phone and dialed Gustav.

It rang once before connecting.

"Master?"

"Gustav, look into the recent child abduction cases," he said without preamble. "Send me an initial report by the end of the day."

Despite his confusion, Gustav answered without hesitation. "Yes, Master."

Lucian hung up and turned back to the television, his eyes sharp.

"I hope I am wrong."

*****

By the time Ashley finished helping Primo with his homework and the boy went off to shower, she made her way to the bedroom where Lucian would typically be at this hour. She walked in to find him at her laptop.

Her steps slowed. She listened to the unhurried clicks of his fingers on the keyboard.

"Huh." Her voice broke the quiet. "Lucian, you type like an old man."

It wasn’t that he was painfully slow, but given the specs of the device, the pace was certainly noticeable.

Lucian looked back at her, expression unreadable. "Look at this."

"Hmm?" She rested one hand on the back of his chair and the other on the edge of the desk. "What is it?"

"The recent child abduction cases," he said. "I asked Gustav to pull a quick report. He just sent these over."

Ashley leaned in and skimmed the screen. She tilted her head.

Child abduction wasn’t a new crime — it was, in her opinion, one of the cruelest things a person could do. Even with blood on her own hands, she had never once considered involving a child in her business. Even if that child belonged to an enemy, she would let them go without a second thought.

It would perhaps surprise some people to know that this view was shared by many in the underworld. She had encountered some of the most vile people the underground had to offer, and even they had lines they wouldn’t cross when it came to children and pregnant women. Only the truly disturbed had none.

"These are all recent," she said. "And troubling."

Especially in a country ranked among the safest in the world — a place where most organizations couldn’t establish a foothold precisely because of the administration’s strict laws and an active, reform-minded leader. It wasn’t the most comfortable territory for people like Dominion, but it was manageable as long as they maintained the appearance of law-abiding citizens.

"That’s not the point," Lucian said, tapping at the keyboard with one deliberate finger.

Ashley couldn’t let it go. "Do you... actually type like that?"

"Hmm?"

"I know you’re always on your tablet or laptop, but you’re usually just reading things," she said. "I’m genuinely a little unsettled by how slowly you type."

She could already picture it — if she ever had to hack Lucian’s computer, she’d have the whole system cracked before he finished typing three letters.

"..."

Lucian pressed his lips together, suddenly self-conscious. He shook it off and redirected her attention.

"This is the point," he said, gesturing at the screen.

Ashley looked up and studied the unfiltered crime scene photos Gustav had recovered. Her brows drew together. She reached for the mouse and scrolled through them one by one.

Each scene had a distinctive marking left somewhere within it — drawn in blood in some, a small sketch in others, a few only half-finished. But taken together, they painted a complete picture of what had happened and, more importantly, who was meant to look responsible.

"What in the world..." she murmured. "Why is my signature at every single one of these scenes?"

Silence settled over the room as they stared at the photos.

It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be. Someone was framing Ghost — deliberately, methodically, and with enough knowledge to replicate the signature accurately.

Ghost had always operated alone and carried a complicated reputation in the underground. The authorities had historically looked the other way when it came to her activities, largely because her targets tended to benefit them. But this was different. This involved children — a sensitive, high-profile case that no authority could afford to ignore, regardless of who else might benefit from the outcome.

"Someone is impersonating Ghost." Lucian broke the silence, guiding her to the next set of reports. "The police haven’t said anything publicly yet, but they already have a person of interest."

Ashley nodded slowly. "It’s me."

"Fuck," she breathed, eyes hardening. "I don’t care what labels get put on Ghost, but this?"

She bit her lip, turning it over in her mind. It wasn’t about clearing her name. The problem was that Ghost was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost. No one outside of Lucian knew who was behind the name. That made it easy for someone else to claim it. Or weaponize it.

The real question was — why now?

She barely had to sit with it before it clicked. Her mouth opened, and a short, humorless scoff escaped her.

Lucian nodded, as if he had already arrived at the same conclusion. "Ghost has just officially become part of Dominion," he said, eyes back on the screen. "The authorities will have no trouble connecting this to Dominion’s activity."

"Shit."

Silence stretched between them until Ashley’s phone buzzed on the desk. She picked it up, frowning at the name on the screen.

Gin.

She answered.

"Gin." She paused as she listened, and her frown deepened. "What did you say happened to Julius’s son?"