The morning began in silence.
No birds. No wind. No movement.
Just the stillness that comes before everything changes.
Sebastian stood by the window, his reflection framed by the gray wash of dawn. His jaw was tight, expression unreadable, but his eyes tracked every flicker of light beyond the tree line. The mist had lifted enough to reveal the dirt road curling toward the safehouse the only approach.
"Nothing yet," Liam muttered, scanning thermal feeds. "Either they're regrouping or they're already here."
That last word made Isabelle's heart tighten. She sat near the table, clutching a mug she hadn't drunk from. The child in her belly stirred faintly, and she felt the old familiar rush of panic. Every sound every creak, every distant hum felt like a threat.
Sebastian turned. "Alison, drone net up. Liam, jam frequencies around our perimeter five hundred-meter radius."
