CHAPTER 33 – CLOSE CALL

POV: ADRIAN

The first thing I noticed was the silence.

Not the comforting kind—the sort that settles over a home late at night, warm and familiar, filled with the soft hum of life. No. This silence was sharp. Too sharp. A blade pressed against the atmosphere, slicing through the darkness inch by inch.

I’d grown up around danger. Violence was as natural to me as breathing. But this… this quiet held intent. It carried purpose. It warned me before a single ...