27. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Alina
The mansion went silent.
Not the quiet of a sleeping house, but the sudden, oppressive silence of systems shutting down. The low hum of servers and the whisper of climate control—all gone.
Alina stood frozen, phone clutched in one hand, the unanswered message to Dante burning on the screen. Something’s wrong.
Still no reply. Her stomach twisted.
Move.
She stepped into the hallway—and froze. Two guards sprinted past her, not patrolling, but running.
“Hey!” she called. “What’s happening?”
Neither answered. They didn’t even look at her.
Her pulse spiked. “Okay. Cool. Love that.”
She followed them down the hall, close enough to hear the tension in their voices.
“—North perimeter breach—”
“—movement in the trees—”
“—could be scouts—”
“—or worse—”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Vescari.
The name was a block of ice in her gut. She had to believe Dante felt it too, that he was already turning back.
“Please be on your way back,” she whispered.
A loud metallic clunk echoed through the halls. Then another. Then another. The mansion’s automatic lockdown system. Doors sealing. Windows reinforcing. Security shutters sliding into place.
Alina’s breath caught. “Oh my god.”
She spun around, racing back toward her room, but a guard intercepted her.
“Ma’am, you need to stay in the secure wing.”
“I am in the secure wing!”
“Then stay there.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’re assessing.”
“That’s not an answer!”
The guard hesitated, just long enough for her to see the fear in his eyes. “We have movement on all sides.”
Her blood ran cold. “All sides?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed. “Is it the Vescari?”
He didn’t answer. That was answer enough.
A sharp bang echoed from outside. Not a gunshot—something hitting metal. Hard.
Alina jumped. “What was that?”
“Stay back,” the guard ordered, stepping in front of her.
Another bang. Closer. Then a third—louder, heavier—like someone testing the mansion’s defenses.
Her heart pounded. “They’re trying to get in.”
“Ma’am—”
“Don’t ‘ma’am’ me! Tell me!”
The guard exhaled. “We think they’re probing the perimeter.”
“Probing,” she repeated. “Like… testing the walls?”
“Yes.”
“Like velociraptors?”
“…what?”
“Never mind.”
Her hands shook.
Dante needs to know.
She typed again: They’re here.
Still no reply. The hallway lights dimmed for half a second—just long enough for her breath to hitch. “No. No, no, no—”
The guard spoke into his radio. “Control, report. Why did the lights—”
Static.
He grabbed her arm, not roughly, but urgently. “We’re moving you to the panic room.”
“Is it secure?” she demanded, pulling back. “They’re jamming communications and knocking out the power. What good is a box if they can just cut it off?”
“It has an independent power source,” he said. “It’s the safest place in the mansion.”
She yanked her arm back. “I’m not going unless you tell me what’s happening.”
He hesitated. Then: “We have multiple heat signatures approaching the property. Fast.”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Her heart stuttered. A deep, heavy thud reverberated through the floor.
Alina stumbled. “What was that?!”
“Impact on the west wall,” the guard said. “They’re testing for weak points.”
“Do we have weak points?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“…mostly.”
“Mostly?!”
Another thud. Harder.
The guard grabbed her again. “We need to move. Now.”
She didn’t fight this time. The truth was clawing its way up her throat: Dante isn’t here. And they know it.
They sprinted down the hall, past sealed doors and reinforced shutters. The mansion felt like a steel cage—one she wasn’t sure would hold.
He’s coming back.
But will he make it in time?
“Please, Dante… hurry.”
They reached a heavy steel door hidden behind a bookshelf. The guard pressed his palm to the scanner. A red light blinked once, then died.
He tried again. Nothing.
Alina’s voice cracked. “Why isn’t it opening?”
“They’ve cut the secondary power grid,” he said, his voice tight. “The door’s on a closed circuit, but they must have found the junction.”
Another thud shook the wall. Alina flinched. “Oh god—”
The guard drew his weapon. “Stay behind me.”
She pressed her back to the wall, heart pounding so hard it hurt. Her phone buzzed. She looked down. A message from Dante: I’m coming. Don’t move.
Her breath broke. She typed back with shaking fingers: Hurry.