The climb back up the limestone face was an exercise in pure, agonizing adrenaline. Elea pulled herself over the balcony railing, her lungs burning with the effort of maintaining total silence while her heart hammered against her ribs. She had exactly five minutes before the internal clock she had set for Kai’s likely return expired. Her movements were a blur of calculated desperation. She stripped off the damp tactical suit, shoving it into the hidden lining of her suitcase, and scrubbed the salt spray from her face with a dry towel. The scent of gunpowder still clung to her skin like a second shadow, so she frantically doused her neck in the heavy floral perfume she usually kept for formal galas.
She slid under the silk duvet, her body trembling with the aftershocks of the firefight at
