The seventy-two-hour deadline came and went like a storm cloud passing overhead—ominous, inevitable, and leaving destruction in its wake. We'd spent those three days in frantic preparation, but nothing could have truly readied us for what followed.
The enforcement team arrived at dawn on the fourth day, not in the black SUVs we'd expected, but in military-style vehicles that spoke of serious intent. Through our windows, I counted at least twenty figures in tactical gear, their supernatural auras blazing with hostile energy.
*They brought the scary ones,* Stella observed from her crib, her starlight aura flickering with agitation. *The ones who like hurting people.*
I scooped her up, feeling Dante's grim determination through our bond as he positioned himself by the front door. Around ou
