Beckett leads us away shortly after Genki and Dauphine leave. He walks with great confidence, which lifts my spirits some. It's my turn to carry Poppy, something he resists, but finally agrees to when I simply take her from his arms.

The night is eerie, the moon tracing across the sky until it disappears behind the towering buildings. I feel as though we've been wrapped up in a cocoon of quiet, barely a whisper of wind stirring. Twice Beckett pauses and we with him, a single ...