The network screamed.
I was standing in the war room, reviewing the list of captured Silent Ones operatives, when the connection flared in my mind. Not pain—something worse. Panic. Pure, unfiltered terror rippling through the network like a shockwave.
"What the hell was that?" Selene asked, her hand flying to her temple.
She felt it too. We all did. Every person connected to the network had just experienced a moment of shared horror.
"Something's wrong," I said, already moving toward the door. "Freya, get to the lab. Everyone else, secure the perimeter."
I burst through the safehouse doors and into the street. The network was in chaos, its connections flickering and distorting. I could feel entities screaming, their consciousnesses being torn apart by something I couldn't see.
I foun
