Chapter 106

Water closed over Camille's head. Cold. So cold it burned

her skin. She kicked toward the surface, arms flailing, lungs

screaming for air. But something held her

down, hands gripping her ankles, dragging her deeper into the darkness.

She looked down. Rose stared back at her, grinning, her hair floating around her

face like seaweed. Beside her, Herod Preston, his

eyes flat and lifeless as a shark's. They pulled

harder. The pressure in Camille's chest built to unbearable levels.

She opened her mouth to scream, but only bubbles escaped as water rushed in..

Camille jolted upright in bed, gasping. Her

nightgown stuck to her skin, soaked with sweat. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. Then the familiar outlines of her bedroom at the Kane mansion took shape in the darkness.

Just a dream. The same dream that had haunted her for months after Rose's betrayal. The one Victoria's training had eventually banished.

Until now.

Camille switched on the bedside lamp, chasing away the shadows. The digital

clock read 3:17 AM. She pushed back the tangled sheets and

moved to the window, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. Below, the estate's gardens

stretched out, security lights casting strange patterns across the manicured lawns. Beyond the gates, Manhattan glittered in the distance.

This was the third night in a row the nightmare had returned. Each time more

vivid. Each time harder to shake off.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Alexander's text: *Awake?*

How did he always know? Camille typed back: *Bad dream again.*

Three dots appeared immediately. *Coming over. Kitchen. Hot chocolate.*

A small smile touched her lips

despite the lingering dread from the nightmare. Alexander

had developed an almost supernatural sense for when she couldn't sleep. Since their visit to his childhood home, since

that first real kiss their connection had deepened into something that sometimes

frightened her with its intensity.

Camille pulled on a silk robe and padded barefoot down the mansion's

grand staircase. The

house was silent except for the occasional creak of settling wood and the

soft footsteps of security guards patrolling outside.

In the kitchen, she switched on a single light and filled the kettle. Alexander would

arrive in exactly twelve minutes. He always did, no matter

what time she texted. One of the many mysteries about him she

hadn't solved yet.

As she reached for mugs in the cabinet, a movement in the garden caught her eye.

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Chapter 106

Camille froze, staring out the window. Nothing but shifting shadows from the trees.

Yet something felt... wrong. The hairs on her arms stood up.

She moved away from

the window, suddenly aware of how exposed she was in the

lit kitchen. Victoria's training kicked in automatically. Assess the threat. Minimize vulnerability. Create advantage.

The kettle began to whistle. Camille switched it off and backed toward the pantry.

as her fingers found the light switch, the kitchen door swung open.

Just

"Security sweep is clear."

Camille

relief at the sound of Alexander's voice. He stood in the doorway, his expression shifting from alert to concerned when he

happened?" He crossed to her

the garden. Just shadows." Camille tried to

look convinced. He

window, scanning the grounds with practiced eyes. "Security has

preparation of hot chocolate. "What aren't you two telling

her

something. She

to wait until the Grid corrections

what?" The nightmare's lingering dread intensified. "Alexander, no

nodded, taking the mug she

been buying Kane Industries

over five percent

stilled. "A

"Unlikely

sixty percent, and I recently purchased ten percent myself." Alexander held her gaze. “But it suggests Herod's

the Grid."

too small, too

around her mug,

same day Victoria discovered this,"

know about it, but somehow

this as superstition,

mind misses. Victoria's been tenser. Security

the breakfast nook, sitting across from each other

the night pressed against the windows

26

Chapter 106

about the

stared into her mug. "I'm drowning. Rose

her." She looked up.

this sense of... running

of time."

Alexander

table, taking her hand. The contact

more you should know," he

layer of

sophisticated than

by someone with higher security clearance than

"Who?"

Her head of

hit Camille like a physical blow. Martin

had been at

Who had helped train Camille when she

detail of Kane Industries

whispered. "He's been with

Alexander finished. "Fifteen years of apparent loyalty. Which makes

no

Greene is working with

He knows everything,

She paused, a new

about

"Victoria has him

he's communicating with Herod or

be too late." Camille stood, suddenly

more aggressively.

wants to wait. Use Greene to

planning something

the kitchen, her nightmare's urgency

Grid sabotage. The stock purchases.

all connected, but

at the

darkness. The garden lights cast long shadows

creating shapes that seemed to shift and move with a life

there's another layerwe haven't

we've discovered so far is

joined her at the window.

about Rose," Camille said. "She's always

careful. Methodical. Her

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Chapter 106

family took years of

her head. "Victoria

for a decade. People like that

"Victoria's releasing false information

Alexander said. "A press release about a major partnership between Kane Industries and

to make Herod react."

"Smart. But

to the refrigerator, pulling

the milk in a pan,

she said suddenly. "When

against the

ago, according

Rose connected with Herod," Camille noted.

"Yes. Which suggests...."

didn't find Herod," Camille finished. "Herod found Rose. He sought

of

he followed her logic. "So

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