in washing away the last clinging traces of the

to a silent halt in front of her. The tires hissed against the wet asphalt, sending up

ped open with a s

door shut, sealing her inside, and the chaos of the storm vanished

sive-didn't turn around. He simply reached back and handed a thick, hea

a'am," the driver said, his v

d shirt without ceremony. She pulled on the fresh clothes with practiced speed-a sleek, tailored black tur

into a tight, severe bun at the nape of he

ansion was gone. Erased. The woman sitting in the back seat now r

, it slowed as it approached the massive, wrought-iron gates of the Obsidian Estate. The gates loomed out

ghts, their flashlights cutting through the rain to blind the driv

e inch. He slid a black card with a subtle,

tly. His entire posture shifted from aggression to deference in a heartbeat. He immediately tapped his earpie

pen, massive hinges prot

dark stone and towering spires. Ayla pushed the door open herself and stepped out into

teps, her boots splashing in th

f a man-six-foot-five, shoulders like a linebacker, hands thick and scarred from decades of violence. His massive frame was ten

gust of wind swept into the foyer, making t

his hard, suspicious eyes narrowing as he

ineteen-ye

ook a step forward, his enormous frame blocking the

deep, dismissive rumble. "Turn around and get ba

looked up at the giant of a man as if he we

e neurological degradation," Ayla said, her voice flat

as the encrypted medical code-the highest-level classification known only to

d to a harsh, incredulous wh

ithout a flicker of hesitation. "Every second you waste is another

er audibly. He stepped closer, raising his massive ha

hat seemed to come from somewhere

directly into Morgan's personal space, he

thick and palpable, the kind of aura forged in underground bloodbaths and black-market operating rooms where the ligh

ops-screamed at him so loudly he nearly flinched. Before he even realized what his

man inside that room stops breathing, his blood is on your hands. Not mine.

. He weighed the risk of a hidden weapon against the very real, very immedia

ideways, his massive body creating just enough

past him wit

ts lined the walls-hard-faced, armed, their eyes tracking her every mo

ble doors at the very end of the hall. A bi

e-digit code with practiced speed and pressed his thu

id open with a sof

ady, rhythmic beeping of life-support m

om, her boots silent on

l equipment. They skipped over the three frantic doctors in white

d onto the cen

floor-to-ceiling windows. The storm raged outside, lightni

w trapped in a chair. He slowly turned his head, the movement deliberate and cont