The estate went into lockdown within minutes.Steel shutters slammed down over the windows. Every hallway lit up in red. Kalen activated the internal defense grid from the command center, his fingers flying over the screen like a pianist playing for war. Motion sensors lit up the terrain around Blackpine like Christmas. The private guard—the Shadow Ward—was deployed around Elian’s floor.

But none of it was fast enough.

Because he felt it first.

Elian sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide and ...