Austin
The sleek, silent ascent of the Apex Tower elevator felt less like a ride home and more like a trip to the gallows.
Beside Austin, Kaius Blair was an immovable force of contained energy, the gleaming auction boxes in his hand a mocking symbol of the normalcy she'd shattered tonight.
Her mind raced like a tactical command center under siege.
He cannot cross this threshold. He must not see.
Her fingers danced across her phone screen, a facade of checking notifications masking a frantic S.O.S. To Lucy: RED ALERT. Get the kids upstairs. Do not, under any circumstances, come down. No matter what you hear.
Lucy's reply was immediate, a digital punch to the gut.
Lucy: Austin, I'm at that new fusion place on 5th. What's happening?
Damn.
To Lucy: Nothing. Will ex
