Meanwhile, in the hotel room.
The feed cut back to the Aurex entrance.
Smoke rolled across the screen as the camera zoomed in, stabilizers struggling to keep the image clean. A figure stepped out of the haze with both hands raised, clothes torn, face smeared dark with blood. The anchors started talking over each other, voices climbing, speculation bleeding into certainty.
Arlen leaned closer to the screen without realizing she was moving.
"That's him," she said. "That's him!"
Her hands tightened in Xavier's jacket as the camera angle shifted, soldiers closing in, weapons raised, floodlights washing the scene white. She watched them surround him, watched scanners come out, watched his face turn toward the light.
Her chest felt tight.
"They're going to shoot him!" she said, words tumbling over each other. "They're going to decide he's the attacker and—"
The bell rang.
