in the hallway, a tiny, sp

child's skin was like ice; there was no

why are you

face in the crook of Avery's neck, he

whispered.

r heart skipping

who was c

her chin. Dorothea blinked, clutching her rabbit, and after a lo

ed, watching her daughter's fa

could break, a sharp rap sou

We have a

e hall. Drake's jaw was

r twenty minutes. The breach originated from yo

. She'd used it to enter Dominic's study

rot

," Drake reassured her, though his voice dropp

phone. A message g

ng. The new doctor immediately altered his medicat

ed. It was a trap-a blatant, jagged hook. Jul

e lion's mouth. If she stayed, her b

marched toward

anding by the window, already dressed in a sharp, da

hacked," Avery sa

kno

s came fro

his movement stiff, a

sat idling outside the main gate. They didn't move.

Two of my offshore accounts were flagged and frozen," he said, his voice a l

t fixed that

ows," he cut her off. "It's easy to

her a sepa

y're coming for him because they need your signature for the

ould Julian have a

was a dead man walking. He entrusted his most dangerous secret

in the

oving fast enough to risk a

d out to find Dorothea standing by the study door,

ethe

was staring into the room, toward Dominic

ack to her room, then returned t

wasn't a question; it was an obs

d

m on the window frame. Avery noticed something off-his gaze was

rub his brow, a shar

rasped. "I just don't like pe

team. We proceed as planned. Assign two men to the thir

dded and

, her doctor's eye narr

he snapped, straightening his cuffs. "The rats in th

didn't correct it. He simply shoved hi

e walls bled cold light under the fluorescen

pped into the elevator, he reached out to steady himself against the wall. His knuck

floor. The door swung open. T

lia

e next

spun around to see a man in his fortie

nger had introduced them, claiming Greene was "fascinated" by

ery looked back at him. He gave her a sharp, impercept

e. "Lock the exits on the third floor. Switch to the ba

y th

t at the end of the hall dragged a ghostly trail across his v

Greene pushed a fol

n. Sign here, and we c

line. She flipped to the second page. A line of fi

is t

ard cl

ut transferring my research da

tal po

slammed the folder shut.

. He took off his glasses, polished

en. If you don't sign, he misses his dose

or fle

tly shrinking the room. He sat across

eset into a mask of feigned

is voice a low, lethal silk. "You've known s

said

sliding the folder back toward the d

a what you're

es cold and predatory. "After that, I can't guarantee

fingers

ty se

r sitting across from him. He took off his

dename," Greene w

n her bones. Dominic didn't

zed. He glanced at the scree

AS

l rained down. Avery dove for cover, a stray sha

d a tactical mask stood on the shattered win

e," the fi

have to bring Av