Chapter 197: Welcome to LA

Just as things had finally begun to calm—Arabella babbling on about superheroes, her tears drying into giggles—everything changed again.

The sound came first.

It started as a low rumble, barely audible at first—like distant thunder just under the skin of the world. A tremor in the calm. A murmur that grew deeper, louder, until it thrummed in the pavement itself. Deeper. Sharper. More rhythmic. 

Engines. Not one. Not two.

Multiple.

Half a dozen, maybe more.

Low, smooth, coordinated.

Too smooth.

Rex turned his head slightly.

Then saw them.

A convoy. A fleet of sleek black vehicles barreling around the corner, silent but commanding, like wolves on the hunt. SUVs. Armored. Not police, not press. Something else.