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I locked the phone. “I’m fine.”

The lie came too easily. I stared walking again toward the lower gardens. Ghost followed. Then—darkness.

One of the security lights ahead of us went out.

I stopped.

Ghost’s hand disappeared beneath his jacket.

Another light died.

Farther along.

Then another.

Not all of them.

A line.

A path through Blackthorn.

Ghost pulled his weapon. “Inside.”

My phone vibrated.

I already knew.

Still, I looked.

One word.

Walk.

I stared at the words.

“Nyssa.” Ghost’s voice sharpened.

I looked up. He had his weapon out now. Held low against his thigh as his gaze moved through the darkness. Another security light flickered. Then died.

“Inside. Now.”

My heart hammered.

Every instinct told me to listen.

Turn around.

Go back.

Alaric was twenty feet away.

Maybe thirty now.

One shout.

That was all it’d take.

Ghost touched the radio clipped beneath his jacket. “Rafe.”