The darkness that swallowed the estate was absolute, a heavy velvet shroud that wiped away the world. Elena’s breath hitched, the sound amplified by the sudden, ringing silence that followed the death of the perimeter alarms. Beside her, she felt Julian’s body vibrate, a coiled spring of muscle and murderous intent. His hand found hers in the dark, his grip so tight it bordered on painful, a silent command to stay close or be lost to the abyss.
"Don't move," Julian’s voice was a low, lethal vibration, barely a breath against her ear. "The secondary generators should have kicked in by now. If they haven't, it’s not a blackout. It’s a lobotomy."
"I told you, little brother," Dominic’s voice drifted through the blackness, uncannily calm. "Silas doesn't use a hammer when a scalpel will do. H
