Page 190 of Dark Night of the Soul

I closed my eyes for half a second.

Anna said nothing as she huffed out a breath.

“What’s going on?” Ludwig asked.

“This doesn’t concern you,” she said.

Ulrich’s gaze dropped to the papers. “This looks like the floor plan to Walker Manor.”

Anna’s head snapped toward him. Her eyes flashed. “How do you know that?” Her voice went sharper. “You’ve never been there.” Then she looked at me, like a blade finding the soft spot. “What did you tell them?”

“I didn’t tell them anything,” I said, voice even. “And you’re not on some guided tour. He saw a floor plan. That’s all.”

Ulrich nodded once, like that was obvious. “My eyes still work.”

Ludwig’s mouth twitched—amused and unapologetic—as he leaned in to study the plan and the security upgrades.

Anna folded her arms like she still didn’t believe me.

“Closed circuit cameras?” Ludwig asked.

“Yes,” Silas answered. “Piers cleared out the old butler’s pantry off the kitchen and converted it into a security room. Two monitors in the guard shack.”

Anna made a sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh, like her body couldn’t decide which emotion deserved air.

“When do we move?” Ludwig asked.

“Whoa.” She straightened. “Are you moving with us now?”

“Thought we might,” Ulrich said.

“What’s the matter?” Ludwig added, smirk firmly in place. “You don’t like us anymore?”

Her gaze cut to me. Dagger-sharp. “What the hell, Kincade?”

“Hey.” I leaned forward, caught her wrist lightly and swept my thumb over the back of her hand. “You’re not being bulldozed.” My eyes held hers until her breathing slowed. “Walker Manor is yours. You decide who crosses that threshold. But if we’re going home, I’m not doing it half-protected. Not with Grace there. Not with Ophelia. Not with your mother.” I flicked a look at Ludwig without raising my voice. “Everyone understands that.”

They’d better.

“That’s not my home, that’s a fortress.”

“It’s both,” I said. “That’s the problem.”

And there was no easy solution.

Silence.

Tension so thick it crackled.

She stared me down like I was the one to blame.

I shouldn’t have done it—opened the bond—but I did it to gauge her thoughts. She was furious. Not at me. Not at the fact Silas commandeered her estate. At the fact that she had to live like that now. Then I shut it down. Before I saw more than I should.

She looked to Silas then. “What about those fuckers who teleport? How do you stop that?”

I might’ve smiled, if I didn’t know why she asked. That’s how the Brotherhood got to her before.

Silas didn’t even flinch. “You don’t stop the jump,” he said. “You make it expensive.” He tapped the floor plan—doors, windows, the long spine of the hallways. “I laid a detection grid. If someone blinks inside the perimeter, we know immediately—no guessing, no lag. And I anchored the thresholds.” His gaze lifted to mine, calm as a blade. “It won’t block an elite Watcher. But it’ll add friction. They land off-balance. Loud. Slower.” A pause. “Ten seconds is all we need.”