Lightning ripped across the sky with a blinding white flash. Thunder followed in a deafening roar that shook the walls of the compound. The fog surged against the gates as if alive, writhing and pulsing like a creature desperate to break through.
The Patron stood at the center of it, his dark coat unmoving in the violent wind. The sentinels behind him shifted like shadows barely anchored to the earth. Their forms were vaguely human but wrong in a way that made the guards at the perimeter take an involuntary step back.
Inside the medical wing, Aria screamed.
Luca held her as she arched against him, her nails digging into his shoulders. Her breath came in sharp, broken gasps. Every monitor around the bed flickered wildly, unable to interpret the signals coming from her body.
The doctor adjusted the oxygen mask with shaking hands. "Her vitals are spiking again. This is not sustainable. If her heart rate goes any higher, she could go into cardiac arrest."
