Mirabe''s almond-shaped eyes narrowed, a fierce glint shing through them, but it quickly faded away. She leaned back in her seat, turned off her phone, and asked the man next to her, "How fast can we get back to Westbridge?"


    James, already having messaged Wyatt to prep the ne as soon as Mirabe checked the location, replied, "About an hour and a half."


    Mirabe lightly tapped her fingers on her knee, murmured a soft


    acknowledgment, and closed her eyes. She hadn''t dressed warmly when she left, and now her face looked both pale and cold.


    James nced in the rearview mirror but stayed silent, instead turning up the car''s heat.


    Twenty minutester, they pulled up at the airport.


    Wyatt was waiting at the entrance. As they got out of the car, he approached with a nod, "James, Ms. Mirabe."


    Mirabe gave a nod in return.


    Noticing her cold hands, James squeezed them gently and draped his jacket over her shoulders. He then turned to Wyatt, speaking calmly, "Stay here and sort things out."


    "Got it," Wyatt nodded, his eyes briefly flickering over Mirabe''s face. He didn''t know why James suddenly needed to rush back to Westbridge, but he guessed it was rted to Ms. Mirabe.


    Wyatt wisely held back from asking further questions, took the keys James tossed to him, and watched them head into the airport.


    As they boarded the ne, Mirabe got a call from Robert.


    "Hey, Mirabe, I can''t reach your friends. Have they been in touch with you? They''re supposed to head to the airportter, but they''re nowhere to be found," Robert''s worried voice came through.


    Mirabe settled into her seat in the cabin and replied with her usual calm, "Professor, no need to worry. They''re probably just out shopping and will be back soon."


    Her steady tone always had a calming effect, and Robert''s initial anxiety started to ease. While Merrywoods could be a bit chaotic, ze Patrick, and the others were just out for a stroll and weren''t likely to run into trouble.


    With that thought, Robert didn''t press further, saying, "Alright, I''ve got some things


    to sort out here, so I''ll hang up now."


    "Sure thing."


    Mirabe put away her phone, her gaze turning to the window. She wasn''t worried about her friends


    being in danger, she knew their adversaries were just trying to draw her out.


    An hourter, the ne touched down in Westbridge.


    As soon as Mirabe got into the car and turned on her phone, a message from


    an unknown number popped up. It was brief, just two words: [Waiting for you.]


    Mirabe nced at it briefly before deleting the message without a second thought.


    Curtis, their driver, had already started the car and asked quietly, "Back to the hotel?"


    James looked at Mirabe, noting her slightly lowered head as she tapped a few times on her phone screen. Her voice soon followed.


    "This ce."


    As she spoke, the dashboard screen transformed into a detailed star map with precise coordinates.


    Curtis, observing the map, couldn''t help but marvel at Mirabe''s tech skills. Any ce with inte was her yground.


    In mere seconds! Curtis noted the


    ve


    map''s location, realizing it was quite far from the hotel where Mirabe and James had been staying. From what he knew, it was part of Westbridge''s more tumultuous area. "We''re heading to the unrest district?" Curtis asked gravely as he set the car in motion.