Alistair’s spiritual perception expanded instantly, piercing through the mahogany walls, sweeping across the grand halls, and extending into the surrounding estate gardens."Patriarch Bolton," Alistair said softly, his tone unnervingly serene. "Are you expecting additional guests to arrive via the secondary roof access and the southern perimeter wall?"Caleb frowned, taken aback. "No, Master Reid. All invited guests and their entourages arrived before the banquet commenced. The outer perimeter is completely locked down by our private security.""Then we have an intrusion," Alistair stated, setting his teacup down with a light, porcelain click.Before Caleb or Elizabeth could fully register his words, a muffled, metallic crash echoed from the floor below, followed immediately by the staccato bark of automatic gunfire. High-pitched screams of terror tore through the acoustic grandeur of the banquet hall, cutting off the string quartet mid-note.Elizabeth gasped, her face draining of co

Up ahead, the two vans bound for the mountains were pushing over a hundred miles per hour, winding through the sharp, unlit curves of the elevated cliffside road.Inside the lead transport, four heavily armed mercenaries sat in tense silence, their tactical visors glowing faint green in the dim interior.In the back, bound in heavy steel suppressive cuffs, Isabella sat against the reinforced wall. Her evening dress was torn at the hem, her dark hair slightly disheveled, but her posture remained remarkably composed despite the tape covering her mouth.Her starlit aura flickered weakly beneath the spiritual jammer strapped to her wrist, yet her eyes remained sharp, watching her captors' every move with quiet calculation.Suddenly, the driver’s eyes widened as he glanced in his side mirror. "What the hell? We’ve got a single vehicle gaining on us!""Impossible," the squad leader in the passenger seat barked, checking his tactical display. "The rear guard van was supposed to block the in

Alistair moved so fast that the mountain trees blurred into a single, continuous wall of green.Within ninety seconds, the concrete structure of the Southern Subterranean Tunnel entrance loomed ahead in the darkness.The heavy, blacked-out armored transport carrying Jacob was just fifty meters from entering the dark maw of the tunnel, its engine roaring as it breached the perimeter checkpoint barrier, crushing the metal barricades without slowing down.Alistair didn't bother using the road.He launched himself off a nearby ridge, sailing through the night sky and landing with a bone-shattering thud directly onto the roof of the armored van.The vehicle bucked violently under the sudden weight, its tires screeching as the driver struggled to maintain control inside the narrow, echoing tunnel."What the hell was that?!" the driver screamed into his comms, panic lacing his voice as the ceiling metal above him caved inward. "We've been hit from above!""Keep driving! We're almost out of t

Evans’s jaw tightened, the cigar paper crumpling beneath his thumb. "Intercepted? By whom? Collins’s local police don't have the fire-power to breach an armored transport squad in under two minutes!""We don't know, sir," the leader admitted nervously. "All communications were severed instantly.""Idiots!" Evans snarled, slamming his fist onto the desk with enough force to splinter the thick wood. "These few executives aren't enough! Colonel Taylor is a stubborn bastard—he won't abandon a military operation just because a handful of regional directors complain! We need every high-value hostage from Haven to force the regional governor's hand!"He paced the length of the room, his mind calculating every variable with sharp, ruthless efficiency.After a moment of heavy silence, Evans paused and exhaled a long trail of smoke."We wait until twelve noon tomorrow," Evans decided, his tone settling into a dangerous calm. "If these sniveling fools fail to mobilize enough political leverage t

Looking at the heavy metal spatula in her hand and the small, ground-floor window above the sink, Denise's resolve hardened. They were going to escape tonight, or they were going to die trying.Denise set the mixing bowl aside with calculated quiet, her knuckles white around the handle of the heavy cast-iron skillet she had quietly unhooked from the rack."Viola," Denise whispered, leaning close so her breath barely stirred the little girl’s hair. "I need you to be as quiet as a little mouse. We’re going to play a game. We’re going to climb out that window, and we can’t make a single peep. Okay?"Viola’s eyes went wide, but she gave a fierce, solemn nod, pressing her tiny hands over her mouth.Denise pulled a sturdy wooden chair beneath the high, narrow window above the sink.Her plan was desperate—unlatching the lock, hoisting Viola through first, and then squeezing her own frame through before the guards upstairs noticed the silence from the kitchen.She stepped onto the chair, her