The sterile silence of the hospital corridor shattered at the sound of her voice.

"Michael."

The word was not loud, but it carried with the clarity of a bell through the charged atmosphere. It wasn't a call for help or a cry of distress. It was a simple, weary statement of fact.

Michael Helwart froze. The ruthless momentum of his threats, the glacial rage that had encased him, cracked like thin ice. He turned, and the world narrowed to a single point at the end of the hallway.

Linsy stood ...