"No!"
The word tore out of her before she could stop it.
Too loud.
Too real.
Too late.
They were already moving.
All of them.
Not scattered.
Not searching.
Focused.
Every form in the room shifted toward her at once, their steps clean, synchronized without effort, like the decision had already been made long before this moment.
She stumbled back instinctively. "Why is it always me?!"
"Because you're the only variable left!" Camille snapped through the unstable signal.
Victor moved immediately, cutting in front of her again, intercepting the nearest one before it could close the gap. The impact echoed sharp through the room as he drove it sideways, forcing space where there wasn't supposed to be any.
"Stay behind me!" he said.
"I am very committed to that plan!" she shot back, already moving.
Dante didn't follow.
That was the first thing Victor noticed.
"Dante move!"
Dante stood where he was.
Still.
But not frozen.
Holding.
Containing.
