Chapter 51: Panic button 

Elias's thumb pressed down.

A soft click. Barely audible. But somewhere deep within the manor, a chain of signals jolted awake, hidden circuits lighting up, silent alerts were sent to Adam, to the closest guards, and to whoever Victor had left behind.

Elias didn't wait to see if it worked.

He kept the phone to his ear, but his body was already moving. The terrace doors loomed behind him, tall panes of glass that reflected the dim firelight and the faint blue glow of his phone screen. They had always seemed elegant, almost too beautiful to touch. Now they felt like a liability, nothing but a thin barrier between him and the night.

The curtains stirred again, a soft whisper of movement though there was no wind, and Elias's chest tightened. Moonlight slicked silver over the terrace tiles outside, and beyond that, just darkness. Endless, waiting.