It was Victoria.

Her voice was smooth, loud, and entirely devoid of fear.

“I know you’re in here,” she said, her voice getting closer to the library door. “And I know you have Emma with you.”

Alexander stood in the center of the library, his silhouette tall and rigid against the window.

He reached into his pocket and gripped the silver drive.

The footsteps stopped right outside the library door.

The brass doorknob began to turn.

The brass doorknob clicked.

The heavy oak door swung open, letting in a shaft of bright light from the hallway.

Victoria Sterling stood in the threshold.

She wore a tailored cream coat, her silver hair perfectly coiffed, her expression entirely composed.

Behind her, two large men in dark suits stood in the shadows of the corridor.

“Alexander,” she said, her voice cool and measured.

She did not look at him first; her eyes swept the dark room and locked onto the sofa where I sat.

She saw my arms wrapped around Lucas and Noah.

Her lips thinned into a hard, narrow line.