Elijah’s POV
"The Snake Behind the Curtain"
“You think Scarlet’s your biggest threat? She’s just a decoy.”
And then—
Silence.
As if the voice knew that dropping that single sentence was enough to upend everything I thought I understood.
I lowered the phone slowly, staring at the screen as if it would explain the chaos now crashing through my veins.
Blocked number.
Of course.
Whoever she was—she didn’t want to be found.
Didn’t need to be.
She’d already won the moment I answered the call.
“Elijah?”
I turned sharply. Laura was trying to push herself up from the bed, her body trembling from the effort. Her lips were pale, her chest heaving like she’d just run a marathon. But her eyes—they were awake. Alive with fear. With instinct.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice thin but ur
