Silas's POV
The shrill ring of my phone shattered the silence of my bedroom. I jerked awake, squinting at the clock on my nightstand. Eleven at night. My head felt heavy, weighed down by the exhaustion that had been consuming me for days. I hadn't set foot in the office recently, letting Felix and Aria handle everything while my body seemed to betray me with this unexplained fatigue.
The phone continued its insistent buzzing. An unknown number glowed on the screen, digits I didn't recognize. My instincts told me to answer despite the late hour.
I swiped across the screen, my voice coming out gravelly from sleep. "Hello?"
"Mr. VALERIUS'Empire?" The voice on the other end was frantic, breathless with panic. "This is Jack. Fiona's boyfriend. Listen, I don't have much time to explain. I was trapped in the same place as Fiona and Bella. Fiona told me to contact Mateo at Bella's restaurant to get your number. I just escaped, but they're still in serious danger."
