werbeds. Flames from the mansion gates lit the night in flashes of orange and gold. Sophia's l

gasped, stumbl

e darkness, sharp and calculating. The attackers were not far behind. Th

hadowed path between hedges. "We need to reach t

too fogged with fear to care. All she knew was that Adri

den's stone ornaments. Adrian fired two quick shots, the echoes shar

pounding as though it might tear through her chest. She couldn't understand the mix of fear a

Adrian

and leaping over toppled statues. Sophia stumbled again, twisting

ow down!"

hey could reach it, a fireball erupted near the hedge beside them. Sophia screamed,

the attacker who had launched the makeshift explosive. A sin

ody shaking uncontrollably.

ice low and fierce. "And you

dows, guns raised, rushing toward them. Adrian

ath beyond. But the exit was blocked. Flames and debris from

t," she whispere

ing the darkness. His jaw tig

mach twisted

e, covering her with his body, his pistol

e-more attackers, more shadows, and a figu

ood ra

reathed, dread ri

he faint glow of fireligh

s past-someone deadly, some

kened, sharper, colder

sonal," he muttere

weren't just trapped. They were

aight into a storm th