The silence in the penthouse became deafening.

Aries grabbed my wrist, his grip tight and warm in the dark.

“Sienna,” he whispered close to my ear. “Don’t move.”

I stood frozen, my heart pounding in my throat.

In the silence of the dark apartment, I heard a faint, metallic click.

It came from the direction of the private elevator.

The emergency backup light on the elevator panel flared a dim, pulsing red.

The metal doors began to slide open.

I held my breath, my fingers digging into the fabric of Aries’s wool sleeve.

The red glow from the elevator panel washed over the polished concrete floor in pale, bloody stripes.

A silhouette emerged from the opening doors, dark and wide-shouldered.

Aries did not flinch.

He raised his hand, his fingers curling slightly in the air.

In the darkness, the silhouette stopped instantly.

“It is clear,” a voice said.

It was Killian.

My chest rose and fell in a sharp, ragged gasp.

“The perimeter is compromised,” Killian said, his voice low and tight. “They cut the main line from the basement.”

“How many?” Aries asked.