CHAPTER 48 — THE AFTERMATH NO ONE ESCAPES
The window Elara shattered was still bleeding cold night air when Marcus and Lydia emerged from the reinforced vault. Lydia clutched a blanket around her shoulders, her breaths fast and fragile, while Marcus moved with the silent focus of a man who'd spent years crawling through shadows most people never saw.
Elena didn't move.
She couldn't.
Her entire body was still frozen in that red emergency glow, standing behind Adrian with her pulse hammering in her throat as if her heart had only now learned what fear truly meant.
Adrian lowered his gun slowly, his hand still shaking with a rage he couldn't hide, his eyes locked on the broken window as if expecting Elara to climb back in at any second.
Marcus crossed the room in long, purposeful strides.
"She got past our entire perimeter," he said through clenched teeth. "Again."
Adrian said nothing.
His silence was more dangerous than shouting.
