Aubree’s POV
The mansion was too quiet.
Even with guards at every door, even with Uncle Sebastian barking orders into his phone, even with Carter and Abel glued to my sides…
The silence felt wrong.
Wrong like the moment before lightning hits.
I was sitting on the couch between the twins, wrapped in a blanket I didn’t remember being given. Abel kept bouncing his knee. Carter kept scanning the windows.
Then my phone vibrated.
Once.
Twice.
Unknown Number.
I froze.
Abel noticed instantly. “What is it?”
I swallowed. “I—I don’t know.”
Carter leaned closer. “Don’t answer it.”
But it buzzed again—
Unknown Number Calling…
My hands shook.
Abel reached for the phone.
But he was a second too late.
My thumb slipped.
And I answered.
“…hello?”
A man’s voice filled my ear.
Soft.
Br
