“He was talking to someone,” my father said after a moment. “I was in my room. I couldn’t make out who he was talking to, but nothing seemed to be wrong, and I thought it was you, that I’d misunderstood and you were already on your way when you phoned. I was heading to the door when Troy walked in. That startled me—he didn’t knock first. I think he knew something was wrong and was trying to warn me, but as he walked through that door—”

My father blinked. No outward sign of emotion, but that blink told me everything, as did the slight catch in his voice. “They shot him in the back. He tried to tell me something, but he passed out before he hit the floor. I managed to get the door closed and cast a barrier spell. I should have looked first, seen who—” He shook his head. “All I could think about was getting him into this room and calling for help. Then, too late, I realized I couldn’t.” A pause, then he looked up sharply. “The ambulance. It’ll be here any minute. You should—”

“I’ll open the gates,” I said as I got to my feet.

“Hope and Karl,” Paige called after me. “They’ll be—”

“I’ll call them.”

KARL WAS AT the front door, trying to find a way in after discovering that the outside guards were dead. Had he attempted to break a window, he or Hope could have been seriously injured by the protection spell. I should have warned him about that. Another unacceptable oversight.

Who had been on duty tonight? I almost certainly knew them, had talked to them, inquired after their families, who would be expecting them home in a few hours…

I shook it off and told Karl and Hope about my father, pointing them to the panic room, then opened the gates. I was partway up the drive when the ambulance arrived. I climbed in and updated them on the situation.

As the paramedics and I got close to the panic room, I heard Karl and my father arguing, and broke into a run.

HOPE CHAOS-CRAZED

HOPE

CHAOS-CRAZED

I stood in the panic room, my brain a swirl of perfect chaos.

Paige’s thoughts were loudest, a frightened jumble of self-doubt. Did I do that right? Am I missing something? What if I’m making it worse? Where’s the ambulance?

Benicio’s thoughts were too muddled to distinguish, one intense wave after another. Under that, I could pick up Karl’s steady throb of anger and distress.