“Stand down, Isabella,” he said, his voice muffled by the fabric.

“Marcus,” Isabella said, her hand remaining steady. “Explain why my security system just shut down.”

Marcus pulled the mask down to his chin, revealing a jagged scar along his jaw.

“We have a breach on the upper levels,” Marcus said. “Salvatore’s men tracked the signal from the lakefront.”

“How?” Isabella demanded, lowering the gun by a fraction of an inch. “This facility is shielded.”

“Adrian,” Marcus replied simply. “He activated his tracker when he crossed the perimeter of the Vale estate.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“He did it on purpose,” I said, stepping out from behind Isabella.

Marcus looked at me, his expression grim.

“He wanted them to know he was coming,” Marcus said. “He wanted Salvatore to think he had him cornered.”

Isabella turned back to the blinking console, her fingers moving over the keys again.

A single green line sliced through the static on the center monitor.

The audio channel crackled, and then a voice filled the small, concrete room.

It was Adrian’s voice, calm and steady, echoing through the speaker.