“House secure?”
“Locked down. Units disengaged. Nora and the baby are safe.”
Relief hit me hard enough to almost knock me off my feet.
“It’s over,” I said.
A pause.
Then Wolf’s voice softened. “Copy that.”
I turned back to Rylie, cupping her face, my forehead resting against hers as adrenaline drained from my system.
“You held him,” I said hoarsely. “You held the line.”
Her hands fisted in my jacket. “You came.”
“Always.”
56
Thomas
Thomas knew the moment before the call came.
The silence had changed.
Not absence.
Containment.
His phone buzzed.
Once.
No report.
No confirmation.
Just a single word from a channel that never failed.
Compromised.
Thomas closed his eyes.
So that was it.
Not chaos.
Not panic.
Precision.
They hadn’t reacted to him.
They’dabsorbed him.
He stood slowly, straightening his cuffs, forcing his breathing even as reality settled in.
