Not Magnus’s well-trained operatives scanning the perimeter. No. This was something else. Something far more deliberate. This was personal. A chill slid down her spine. Unity tapped her comm line, fingers flicking with practiced urgency. Static crackled back. Then… > “You’re not the only gh
The rooftop door creaked again louder this time, the sound dragging across the silence like a blade across metal. Unity spun, rifle already raised, her eyes narrowing into the scope in one smooth, trained motion. Nothing. No figure. No flash of movement. Just the door, swinging on tired hinges,
Izora’s hands closed around it. She sat down slowly on the edge of the couch, back straight, lips pressed together. The screen lit up. Her mother’s room. Soft light filtered through pale curtains. The heart monitor beeped steadily. Tubes ran from her arm, IV fluids still dripping. A nurse adjuste
The metal door hissed shut behind her. The chill of the red room clung to Izora's skin even as she stepped back into the warmth of the estate’s main corridor. Her bare feet pressed against the smooth stone floor, her fingers still tight around the tablet. Her breath was steady, but everything else
The door shut behind Magnus with a finality that echoed deeper than a wood meeting frame. Kaiser didn’t move for a long time. The office felt colder without his enemy in it. He exhaled through his nose and reached for the fractured glass decanter on the side table. His fingers wrapped around the
“Get her back inside,” Kaiser barked hoarsely, brushing off a medic who’d rushed in from the left. His voice was frayed at the edges, shredded, but not broken. Never broken. “No” “I thought…” Izora’s breath shook. The words collapsed in her mouth. She couldn’t finish. She didn’t know how. Tears