I stepped out into the corridor, Mara following close behind me.

“Are you sure about Elias?” Mara whispered.

“We have no other choice,” I said.

As we reached the top of the grand staircase, the front door of the estate groaned open.

Cold air rushed up the stairs, carrying the scent of wet asphalt and rain.

A figure stood in the entryway, water dripping from his dark coat.

It was Elias.

He looked up, his face pale under the foyer light.

“Mrs. Blackwell,” Elias said, his voice echoing in the high ceiling. “We have a problem.”

I gripped the wooden banister, my knuckles turning white.

“What is it?” I asked.

Elias held up a small, black electronic device with a blinking red light.

“The perimeter sensors,” he said. “They’ve just been cut.”

Behind me, the landline in Roman’s study began to ring again.

The sound was louder this time, piercing the heavy silence of the house.

I looked back toward the closed door of the study, then down at Elias.

“Get the car,” I said.

Elias hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding.