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I replayed the breathing once more before shutting the monitors down. The chair scraped sharply before the sound disappeared beneath the hum of the lower level. My boots crunching on glass shards as I climbed.

I paused beneath the sealed door and listened as I closed the door, waiting for the deep click. Where was she? I searched the silence instinctively. Her room… waiting for Vivienne.

Footsteps.

Heavy.

Slower than usual.

“Ready?” Rafe asked.

I gave a nod. He left, the echo of steps headed for the rear of the house. I pulled on my jacket. Buttoned. Then left. The air was colder when I stepped outside. I closed the door and turned, lifting my face to the air.

Crisp.

Clean.

He smelled like thick smoke… cloves and smoke.

And rain.

The words lingered as the sound of the car invaded, moving around the side of the house and headed toward me. I stepped down as the car slowed to a stop, reaching out to grab the handle and slipped inside.

Silence filled the car as we pulled away.

Tires crunched on stones.

The engine growled.

But beneath the silence, the hunger moved anyway.

“You buried this once.” Rafe murmured.

I didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

The Sons.

The Daughters.

All the deadly tendrils from the same poisoned tree.

Ones I hadn’t cared about… until now.

South Corridor movement flagged twice before the Voss residence attack.

My family.

“No.” I answered quietly. “I left it unfinished.”

He said nothing. Just drove.

The car turned before we reached the heart of the city. Familiarity rose. Images flickered in my mind. I turned my head, finding shadows at the edges of my view where there hadn’t been before.

The car slowed and pulled in.

Faint beeping of machinery slipped in.