Page 90 of Take Me Darkly

“I’m logging into your account to see if I can,” Zeke said. “First thing is stripping away the display name. It’s easy to spoof a ‘From’ field. I need to dig into the raw source code of the email to look at the headers.”

The aggressive clack of his mechanical keyboard filled the line.

“Should we get someone from our IT team to do it?”

“No, this is child’s play. I just need to bypass the top relays,” he muttered, talking more to himself than to me. “The sender used an open-source client. I’m scrolling down to the very first Received timestamp at the bottom. That’s usually where the true originating IP hides before the other servers mask it... Got it. Writing it down.”

“Can you pinpoint a location?” I pressed, my grip tightening on the phone.

“It’s not clean. If they’re smart, it’s routed through an onion network. I’m running the origin through VirusTotal and our private blacklists. If it’s a residential node in the tri-state area, we have them.”

A heavy silence stretched over the line, punctuated only by a final, sharp strike of his enter key.

“It’s a ghost,” Zeke reported, his tone grim. “Bounced through seventeen compromised servers from Berlin to Singapore. They wanted us to know it’s untraceable—it’s a psychological play. But look at the timestamp offset, Anton. The local clock on the originating server wasn’t adjusted. They sent this from our time zone. They know she’s in New York, and I’d be willing to bet that they’re close.”

“Close,” I said, my voice dropping into that flat, terrifying register reserved for absolute violence. The initial shock was gone, replaced by a dark, predatory hunger. The darkness I’d carried since childhood flared to life, welcoming the fight. “They mentioned knowing my secrets. I told Serena the whole truth about Jerry last night.”

I could practically feel Zeke’s dread through the phone. “All of it?”

“Every fucking gruesome detail. We’ve had weeks of silence from the Serpent’s Disciples, and the exact morning after I tell her everything, an ultimatum hits my private server. You think that’s a coincidence, Zeke? Or do you think they’re listening?”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Zeke said darkly. “I need to get to the security room where I can access better systems. My office computer is limited.”

“I’ll meet you there,” I told him, already moving toward the private lift. “We need more help, Zeke.”

“What are you saying?”

“Hale Fulton. His people. We need eyes on every camera from here to the river. I kept this circle tight because it kept Serena invisible, but invisible failed. I’m going to ask Alexander if he can spare Hale and a few members of his security team for a few days—at least until we can sort this out.”

The line went quiet for a beat.

“I already messaged Hale. I did it the minute I read the email. He and Greyson are on their way here as we speak.” Something in his voice had gone almost gentle, and gentleness from Zeke was rarer than snow in July. “I know I moved without clearing it with you first, but I’m not going to apologize for it.”

Zeke had been after me about beefing up security for the better part of two years, but I’d resisted. A week ago—an hour ago—I would have leveled any man who dared make an executive call regarding my security protocols. And that included Zeke. Control was my religion. It was the armor that kept the chaos of my past from destroying my present. But staring down at the threat still glowing on my phone screen, my pride was a luxury that could cost Serena her life.

“You made the right call,” I said. “It’s why you’re the only man I trust with my life—and with her life.”

I slammed my palm against the lift call button. The wrought-iron cage shuddered as it rose, the internal machinery groaning in the quiet building.

Do not mistake our quiet for distance. We are closer than you believe.

The memory of Serena walking out of the bedroom this morning—her blue eyes cool, her posture distant, her voice devoid of its usual warmth—hit me like a physical blow to the chest.

How much had my confession ruined me in her eyes? Did she look at me now and see only a murderer?

She might have thought she was running from a monster, but she was completely unaware that worse demons were waiting for her in the street.

I will burn this city to the ground before I let them touch her.

The iron lift settled with a heavy, mechanical thud. I threw open the wrought-iron gate before it had even finished sliding, my boots pounding against the stone corridor. The security room sat off the main corridor, hidden behind an unmarked door that Club O members walked past a thousand times without a second glance.

Inside, the massive wall of monitors flooded the room in a sickly, electric-blue haze—two dozen live feeds displaying every alley, service bay, rooftop, and approach to the church. Zeke was already positioned behind the master console, his broad shoulders taut, his fingers flying across the board as he aggressively cycled through the exterior perimeter grids.

“See anything unusual?” I asked, stepping up behind him.

At the same time, I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Serena’s number. I wanted her close.

I pressed the receiver to my ear, listening to the agonizing, rhythmic ring as I stared at the monitors.