CHAPTER 87 — THE COST OF STANDING STILL
The silence after exposure was never empty.
It was waiting.
Elena felt it the moment she woke—an awareness that settled into her bones before thought fully formed. The house was too quiet for dawn. Not peaceful. Alert. Like a held breath that hadn't yet been released.
She lay still for a moment, eyes open, listening.
The Kane mansion was never truly silent, but this morning the usual rhythms had shifted. Footsteps were lighter. Voices were lower. Even the air felt measured, as if everyone inside the walls understood that noise itself could be a liability.
She sat up slowly.
The phone on the nightstand vibrated once.
Not a call.
A message.
Marcus: We have movement. Not Hale. Someone else.
Elena exhaled through her nose and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Whatever Victor Hale had lost in ground, others were clearly testing whether they could claim it.
Power never stayed vacant for long.
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