The figure was gone by the time I blinked, swallowed by the curve of the road and the shadows beyond the estate walls.

Maybe it was nothing, a traveler, a curious neighbor.

But my gut told me otherwise.

I stayed on the balcony long after Nicolas and Vanessa had disappeared inside. The night air was crisp, the gardens below still, but my mind wasn’t still at all. In my world, my old world danger wore sharp suits and fake smiles. In Nicolas’s, it hid in plain sight.

Vanessa woke early, as ...