THE MONSTER'S SHADOW

Two weeks later, I was discharged. Nico brought me back to the estate, which had been transformed into a militarized zone. Guards were posted at every door, every window, and the perimeter was locked down tight.

I was recovering slowly. Elena rarely left my side, reading her storybooks to me while I rested in the conservatory.

Nico was constantly on edge. Lorenzo was still in the wind, a dangerous loose end that threatened our fragile peace.

One afternoon, Nico received a call on his encrypted line. "They found him," he told me, strapping his shoulder holster over his black shirt. "He's holed up at the docks. I have to go finish this, Clara. I'll leave half the men here with you."

"Be careful," I said, a knot of dread forming in my stomach.

He kissed me hard, promising to return before midnight.

Hours passed. The sun set, casting long, eerie shadows across the estate. I was in my room, organizing my pain medications, when the lights suddenly flickered and died. The backup generators didn't kick in. The estate was plunged into total darkness.

A heavy silence fell over the house. No radios. No footsteps from the guards.

My blood ran cold.

I grabbed my emergency flashlight and a heavy bronze bookend from the desk, slipping into the hallway. I moved quickly to Elena's room, finding her huddled under her blankets, terrified.

"Shh, baby, it's me," I whispered, pulling her out of bed. "We have to play a quiet game now. We have to hide."

I heard a heavy thud downstairs. Someone had breached the house. Nico had been lured away. The intel at the docks was a trap, a diversion. Lorenzo had come for the estate.

I carried Elena to the panic room hidden behind the library, but as I punched in the code, the keypad remained dead. The electrical system had been completely fried by an EMP device.

"Well, well, well. The nurse and the brat."

I spun around. Lorenzo Vitali stood at the end of the hall, a silenced pistol in his hand, flanked by two massive thugs. He looked unhinged, his suit dirty, a desperate madness in his eyes.