Chapter 364

Eleanor's POV I'd practically lived in the archives all week. Dusty files and old cabinets surrounded me like forgotten junk, making me feel just as outdated and ignored. My fingers were stained with ink, my eyes tired from reading faded papers for hours. I sighed and stretched when my phone suddenly rang. Dad's name popped up on the screen. "Hey, Dad!" I answered, genuinely happy for the interruption. "Eleanor? Why haven't you been responding to the mind-link?" Dad's voice sounded serious but worried, like always. I glanced around the secure archive room. "Sorry about that. I think it's the archives, they've got some kind of blocking mechanism installed. Joseph's company takes confidentiality pretty seriously." "Hmm," he grunted, not entirely convinced. "How have you been? You haven't called in days." "I've been drowning in work," I admitted, tapping my pen against a stack of files. "Joseph has me digging through these ancient archives. It's like archaeological excavation, but with pa