Game over.
I want to say yes.
“They’ll be safe. The guards are doubled. No one gets in or out without me knowing,” I promise. Maddie still hesitates, but Carmen’s tugging her hand, and Connor’s already halfway to the stairs, declaring he’s going to ‘check the perimeter’. Finally, she relents. So, the circus begins.
Connor marches from room to room like a general, inspecting locks, testing windows, quizzing my guards on their shift rotations. Half of them are terrified. The other half is trying not to laugh. Carmen, meanwhile, is everywhere. Touching everything. Asking a hundred questions.