dn't fall i

re

hisp

der than glass. It clung to the grand iron gates like breath on crystal, bl

just past

No escort.

sil

o a stop, its engine a whisper benea

a

pos

him carved i

entered without clearance, especially not after the incident.

ded them th

parc

mily seal presse

g to open it. The elder one just r

L VOL

Protection Detai

Jean-Luc

from the head

ent. No committee,

n's will ma

ened without

-

s was nev

t the hedgerows. Strategists whispered through encrypted lines in the west

koff entered i

iced-but

and European. No visible weapons, but the weight of violence moved

ed his

made him

n't meet hi

sn't m

ayers of security and into the east quarter-a wing rese

received h

ommittee. Fr

ou are tasked with the close protection o

blink

nowl

eared. Not just images-videos, biometric

ble angle o

citals to blo

re to her political value in eur

said

htly, as though listening to

a long silen

s exp

e i

kno

N

us

suspe

her

lways

een wen

the end of

-

actly where Ra

ly Nordic, his military records partially redacted. Whispers in the intelligence corrid

vived a four-wee

eight days and came back with hi

ld confirm

d Arielle Delacroix moved with such seamless pr

introduc

ask for

r, beside her, ahead of her

ticed him,

noticed e

days, she

ks, through ceremonial dinners with foreign dignitaries. S

the third d

etending to b

didn'

not pr

to face him fully, but enough

y father pr

as cold as sil

eyes. "And what d

n't he

late

e kind of laugh that d

t you're

effi

ol

li

y poetic

aiming f

ace him. "What are you

eyes l

them-not warmth, not yet, but the recognition of

hing," he said. "Even if

ile didn't r

people closest to me. They're usu

-

lked behind her throu

ailles, "alone" meant fewer th

front of a stat

god. The bri

e of the stone cuffs

ve in punishm

e in equi

who's never been th

the

oked a

fire. You're the

nclined

eeps the wolves

ned back to

hat it always feels like the

n't re

d near the holster

in

oom was a

omets frozen mid-descent. Music whispered in the corners-baroque, restrained

grey silk that mirrored the Versailles evening: dark, reflect

six steps

ays

ve. No

form of respect he off

public appearance

s and look for weakness. Diplomats murmured in veiled tongues. Invest

s attention was

fu

anym

watchin

ted Arielle's dress with words that glittered like razors. The aide who passed

ta

deta

aid he didn't bel

t wasn'

them-because instincts

ability wa

side him stirred as

he way a toa

st too long when

anguage buried in di

ng felt

br

lo

...

air befor

-

self from a conversation with t

owed, shado

ed along the beams like fingers. The only light came from moonlit panels a

didn't

dn't h

w he'd

ed, her voice low

prepa

ng, in yo

N

us

readiness. Tense is a

row. "And whic

red to be

ntly. "That's

t trying

k a ste

dn't

e's going to try

N

someone a

es

lted h

l didn't

e couldn'

idn't have proof. O

ided looking directly at him when

file in the palace's inter

y report-the one about who was supposed to

ved-that he had been brought he

to be w

-

s had retreated and the staff had vanished

alled that,

b." But the steel-lined walls and rei

ch one a window into a diff

m, caught in profile as he walked b

e too man

ny clo

t focused on him lon

't surv

s scr

and rewound the fe

er

ring the speech-hands c

ielle too intently, then gla

ted it, stored it in a private

sors in the west corrido

out triggeri

eone wo

's what

pu

wit

te

-

Rafael was standing

pa

eathin

...

un to comp

f ene

f unk

o smiled

ed too early or

embered things

believe in

implied

ed in pattern

pattern

Rafael assumed it was because of his pas

w he w

chosen for t

ne would questi

ould notice when

grand corridor ahead,

beast. It didn

e whis

oves and for

rs and toasts and

face of the man who

was, knew when a trigger ha

t the hand that

he would have t

ven A

lly not

art of this assignment wasn'

ainty that it h

idn't kno

w

e

he w

en he

dow wou

blade wo

se it was

ost of the ice shelf, sentine

the threa

e one