"Stay silent," Tyler said in a low voice while keeping his eyes on the street outside. "The moment those things leave, we move."
He had barely finished speaking when he noticed something strange in their faces.
Tansy, Rose, and old man Rudd were no longer looking at the street.
All three were staring directly behind him.
Their expressions changed so sharply that Tyler felt it before he even turned—something cold and immediate, the kind of instinct that arrives before danger fully reaches thought.
He turned slowly.
Too slowly.
Outside the broken window, a giant eye stared directly into him.
It filled almost half the frame.
Red and blue light rotated within that enormous mechanical pupil, reflecting Tyler's own face back at him.
The ape had already reached the wall.
For one absurd second Tyler raised both hands and, almost out of reflex, pulled down the broken window frame as though a few remaining glass shards could somehow matter.
Then everything exploded.
