Meanwhile, Grey paced the hallway near the main entrance of the mansion, his boots echoing against the polished stone floors. The estate, for all its grandeur, seemed alive with its own rhythm—the groan of beams settling, the faint creak of a distant door, the whisper of wind through cracked windowpanes. Each sound made him tighten his grip on the small leather-bound case at his side.He thought of Lana upstairs, alone in the room she had claimed for herself. A quiet force, resilient yet vulnerable. The thought made him clench his jaw; he wanted to guard her, protect her, and yet he knew that his presence here could not shield her from every danger.The mansion was imposing, a fortress draped in elegance, but to him it felt like a cage. Every corridor led somewhere, yet he could never be sure which path would bring them closer to their goals or farther into peril. His mind ticked with possibilities, contingencies, and the weight of responsibility he carried.Grey stopped by a tall win

The knock did not come again.Grey opened the door to find only emptiness — the corridor dim, shadows stretched across the paneled walls. He lingered for a moment, listening, before closing it again with deliberate care.When he turned, Lana was still by the fire. She hadn’t moved, though her hand was pressed against her chest where the locket lay hidden.“No one?” she asked.“No one,” Grey confirmed. But his expression stayed guarded.He crossed the room, standing near the window, looking down over the manicured lawns and the dark sweep of forest beyond the iron gates. The rain had slowed, leaving the night mist curling like smoke across the grass. Somewhere out there, danger was waiting — not here yet, but circling, biding its time.Lana rose from her chair and joined him at the window. For a while they stood side by side, saying nothing. The mansion seemed too large around them, its silence heavy with old secrets.“It’s strange,” she whispered at last. “I used to dream of places li

The silence between them was razor-sharp, the kind that begged to break. Grey hadn’t moved, and neither had Lana, but the firelight etched every line of tension on their faces.Her pulse thundered in her ears. If he said another word, if he reached for her again, she wasn’t sure what would happen — what she would let happen.But before she could find out, the mansion itself answered for them.A sharp crack split the night — not thunder, not the old timbers settling. Glass. Shattered glass.Grey was on his feet in an instant, the mask sliding back into place so fast it made her chest ache. “Stay here.”She rose too. “Don’t you dare—”“Lana.” His voice was low, commanding, not cruel but final. He crossed to the wall and pulled open a concealed panel she hadn’t noticed before. Behind it, a steel drawer slid free with the press of his palm. From inside, he retrieved a sleek pistol, its weight sure and familiar in his grip.The fire’s glow had changed him again. No longer the young man she

The grand staircase had become a war zone. Shards of chandelier glass crunched underfoot, smoke stung the air, and the polished marble now ran slick with crimson.Grey’s blade carved arcs of steel through the tight crush of bodies, each strike brutal and efficient. He fought like a man who had no choice, every movement measured to protect the one person pressed close behind him.“Stay with me, Lana!” His voice was raw with command.She could barely breathe, but she obeyed, clutching the curve of his sleeve, her knuckles white. The roar of gunfire split the hall, deafening her, but somehow his words always cut through the chaos.Seraphine covered their flank with machine precision. Every bullet she loosed found its mark. Her coat flared with her movements, her expression unflinching even as the walls of the mansion seemed to collapse under the storm of intruders.But for every man they cut down, more filled the space. A tide, endless and merciless.“They’re not retreating,” Seraphine h

The forest swallowed them whole.Branches clawed at Lana’s clothes as she ran, the damp earth sucking at her boots. The night pressed in from every side, thick with pine and fog, and the faint glow of the burning mansion faded behind them with each step.But it wasn’t silence they ran into.The sharp crack of gunfire split the trees, followed by the guttural shouts of men. Searchlights slashed across the darkness, sweeping the trunks like hunting spears. The mercenaries had followed.“Down!” Grey yanked Lana low just as a beam of light skimmed over where her head had been. She hit the ground hard, breath knocked from her lungs. Beside them, Seraphine cursed under her breath and raised her gun, eyes narrowing.“They’re spreading wide,” she said, her tone like steel. “We’re the foxes in the hunt.”Grey glanced around, his mind working faster than his breath. The forest was familiar to him—he’d studied its ridges and paths from the estate’s maps—but under fire, every shadow looked the sa