Elias didn't move. He held her pinned against the mahogany door. The scent of ozone and the cold linen of his shirt were overwhelming.
Mara could feel the sharp edge of the skeleton key pressed between them. The intense physical closeness eliminated the entire history of the Glass House. All that existed was the immediate, terrifying reality of his power and his fear.
"You are not leaving this house, Miss Quinn." His breath was hot against her face. "Did you read the journal?"
Frantically, she shook her head.
He pulled back, releasing her abruptly. Mara gasped, catching her balance on the swaying door handle. She felt the heavy imprint of his body where he had stood. The proximity was gone, replaced by a devastating cold. The storm outside seemed to recognize the shift in power. The wind dropped to a low, sustained groan.
Elias held the leather journal in his hand. It looked small and fragile against his dark clothing. The lantern light was fixed on his face now. His eyes were black, wide with a terrifying kind of clarity. He did not look like a man guarding wealth. He looked like a man guarding a disease.
"Adriana was right," he spoke quietly, but the words felt final. "The sea claims its own. I ignored her warnings. Now the house is breaking, and you are here. This cannot be a coincidence." He gestured toward the talismans.
Mara rubbed her wrist where his fingers had gripped her. Her voice was raw and steady. "Was that the source of her power? Your wealth? The... sea?"
Elias stared at her, absorbing her audacity. The fury returned, colder this time.
"I tried to destroy those talismans." He gestured wildly at the five relics on the velvet stand. "I threw the black sand into the deepest part of the Pacific. It all returned. Every grain. Every carving."
He walked around the desk, leaning his fists on the wood. He was not the cold producer now. He was a desperate man trapped in his own prison.
"They are a lure. I know that much now, and they are drawing something closer." He looked at the gaping hole in the wall, covered only by cheap plastic. "From the night you stepped into this house...something changed."
Mara's heart hammered a frantic rhythm. The danger in his eyes was real, but she saw the desperation behind it.
"I tried to destroy those talismans," he continued, his voice tight. "I know you want them for yourself. You think they will make you as powerful as she was, but whatever you saw on the internet were all lies."
"Were they really?" Mara challenged, letting the question hang in the heavy air.
Silence.
Elias looked at the raw fear in his own bandaged arm.
"You need me, Elias." Mara seized the moment. She used his first name for the first time. The sound felt electric in the room. "You need me to keep these artifacts stable. I am the only person who can touch them without pain. We are in this together."
He looked up at her sharply. "Stop looking at me like I'm a movie role. I don't need a savior."
"You need a partner," Mara insisted, softening her tone. "You need someone who can handle the power while you think. I am drawn to this house. I need to know why, and you need to know why I can touch these."
She reached for the nearest talisman, a piece carved from black obsidian. Her fingers closed around the cold, smooth stone. Elias watched her, rigid. There was no resistance, no pain, just a faint, cold hum.
"The talismans must not leave this room." He spoke through clenched teeth. "They are the only thing holding it back. If you take them outside, the house will shatter completely."
"Then we work here," Mara countered. "I will stay in the annex. I will guard the talismans. You will tell me everything you know about Adriana. You will trust me."
He gripped the edge of the desk. The wood creaked under his pressure. He was defeated by necessity.
"Very well, Miss Quinn." Elias let go of the desk, standing tall. The lantern light caught the desperate resolve in his eyes. "You will stay in the annex. You will not leave the property. You will guard the talismans. And you will not touch this journal again." He pointed a long finger at the leather book. "We work in proximity, not trust."
He reached for the other talismans and swept them off the velvet stand. He placed them directly into Mara's open hands. The weight of the occult power was heavy. She had failed to get the journal, but she had secured her place next to him. That was the real victory.
Just as their hands separated, a new sound ripped through the thunder. It wasn't a window shattering. It was a rhythmic, pounding sound. Like a fist hitting glass.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The sound came from the outside. From the direction of the sea-facing wall of the study.
Elias froze. His fear was absolute now. "That's not the storm," he whispered, his eyes wide, looking past the patched window.
The mahogany study doors behind Mara began to rattle violently in their frame, though the wind had died down.
"Something is here," Mara breathed, the words coming from a deep, cold place she did not recognize.
Elias lunged across the desk, grabbing the lantern. He took Mara's wrist, pulling her toward the emergency exit behind the bookcase.
"We don't have time. We have to leave the house. Now."
BOOM. BOOM. CRACK.
A large, jagged fissure spread across the reinforced plastic window patch. The house was screaming.
Mara did not drop the talismans. She let Elias drag her.
As they reached the exit, Elias yanked a small, heavy axe from a hidden cabinet. He didn't hesitate. He swung it once, shattering the emergency lock.
"After you, Miss Quinn," Elias commanded, pushing her toward the dark, narrow passage. "You brought her here. You lead."