Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Lana’s gaze swept the room one more time and landed on Lyra. “Lyra, what do you think?”

Lyra pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and twirled it between her fingers. “Sounds fine. I don’t know any of those people anyway.”

She popped it back in and mumbled around it, “But Lina’s okay.”

Lana raised an eyebrow.

“She understands me, she speaks Draconian, and she’s obedient.” Lyra tilted her head. “Tell her to light a fire, she lights a fire. Tell her to drop flat, she drops flat. Real good girl.”

The room went quiet for two seconds.

Garrett cleared his throat. “So… Southern Reach’s cooperation is acceptable?”

“Mm.” Lyra nodded. “Lina’s okay.”

Marcus took notes beside them. “And Ursaria? Lydia worked with you too.”

“She’s fine too, I guess.” Lyra thought for a second. “She can take a hit. Got hurt last time and still ran. Didn’t slow me down.”

Lana tapped the table. “Done. Southern Reach and Ursaria, accepted. Everyone else, case by case.”

Marcus closed his folder. “Understood.”

Lana looked at Garrett. “Next item.”

Garrett nodded and waved toward the door. A middle-aged man in a white coat walked in, a black case in his arms.

“Chief Engineer Walker, head of logistics and equipment,” Lana said.

Walker set the case on the table and flipped it open. Inside lay a suit-black, somewhere between leather and fabric, fine- textured, matte under the lights.

Walker lifted the suit out and unfolded it. “Ms. Vance, this combat suit was custom-built to your body data.”

He tapped the collar. “New composite fiber. Tear and abrasion resistant. A Wraith’s hook-scythe will only graze it, not cut through.”

Lyra’s eyes lit up.

Walker pointed at the side of the waist. “Four hidden pockets here. Cards, compass, doll, all fit. Magnetic snaps on the openings. Easy to grab, nothing falls out.”

He flipped the suit over and pointed at the back. “Reinforced layer here. The midlayer across the whole suit is custom ballistic material.”

Lyra stood up, walked to the table, and ran her fingers across the fabric. Soft, but with give.

Boots, too.” Walker pulled a pair of black boots from the case. “Non-slip, shock-absorbing. Cushioned soles. Won’t chafe when you run.”

Lyra took the boots and weighed them in her hand. Light. “Can I try them on?”

“Of course.” Walker pointed at the lounge next to the conference room. “You can change in there.”

14

30

m

111

Chapter 34

Lyra scooped up the suit and boots and turned to go.

Five minutes later she pushed the door open. The suit hugged her without binding, the side pockets swallowed doll. compass, and cards with no bulge when she patted herself down. The boots fit, too-she stomped twice, barely a sound

“Well?” Lana asked.

Lyra spun once and grinned. “Super cool!”

The room laughed.

Walker let out a breath. “Good. If anything feels off, tell me and I’ll adjust it.”

“Nothing feels off.” Lyra patted a side pocket. “This is the one.”

Lana glanced at the time. “All right, that’s it for today. Walker, make a few more on this template so she can rotate them. Lyra, rest these three days. Get yourself back to full strength.”

“Got it.” Lyra waved and headed for the door, then turned back at the threshold.

“Lana.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I order my own meals?”

Lana blinked, then laughed. “Sure. Have Zoe walk you through it. Tell logistics whatever you want.”

“Yay!”

Lyra bounced off down the hall.

The next three days were nothing but comfort. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep. Now and then she jogged a couple of laps at the training ground to test the new suit.

Dr. Walsh came by every day to change her dressings. As the wounds on her back closed up day by day, he finally stopped getting that red rim around his eyes.

Outside, the world had exploded.

Northhaven had been swept clean of Wraiths, and residents were starting to move back.

On the news, a middle-aged man stood in front of a stretch of rubble, eyes red. “This is my house. This is where my house used to be.”

He crouched and dug a scorched plank out of the debris. “My son’s room. His bed sat right here.” He hugged the plank to his chest and cried.

The footage cut to another scene.

A young woman stood in the middle of a street, looking at the ruins around her, smiling. “We’re back. We’re really back.”

“There’s nothing left, but being back is hope enough.”

She turned to the camera and bowed. “Thank you, Lyra. Thank you, Draconia.”

The footage cut again.

24

30

30

O

O

m

O

ESTA

Chapter 34

A crew of workers cleared rubble while bulldozers and excavators roared in the background. A foreman stood off to the side. speaking into the camera. “The government’s already approved the rebuild. New houses here within a month.”

“We’re going to make Northhaven better than it was.

Online, the conversation burned even hotter.

[Northhaven’s back! My home is back!]

[Even ruins are hope, as long as we get to come home.]

[Thank you Goddess Lyra. Thank you Draconia.]

[Saw the news. Our construction crews are insane. A month? Really?]

[A month’s nothing. We’ve thrown up entire emergency hospitals in ten days before.]

[Goddess Lyra is forever the GOAT. I’m building a shrine for her.]

[Easy there-she’s still alive, dude.]

[Fine, then I’ll light a candle for her every day.]

[Don’t burn anything. Goddess Lyra clearly loves food in the game. Why don’t you go check if your backyard’s any good for growing crops instead?]

Over on Draconia’s gaming forum, the thread was stacking up fast.

LyraMyIdol: [Three days now. What’s Goddess Lyra been doing all this time?]

NeverAteVeggies: [Training, probably?]

BornToCuss: [Or recovering. Her injuries weren’t exactly light.]

LuckyKoi: [Praying Goddess Lyra stays healthy and happy.]

AnotherDayAlive: [Saw clips online of Lydia grinding Draconian like her life depends on it.]

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify