Someone who could walk the halls freely. Someone who carried trays, changed linens, drew baths. Someone who smiled at guards and nodded at advisors. Someone no one would question.
Kade glanced down at Dakota again. She slept peacefully beneath the fresh covers, her lashes dark against pale cheeks, unaware of how close the betrayal had come. Someone had walked through the same halls she walked. Someone had breathed the same air. Someone trusted.
Someone who knew how the residence functioned, its rhythms, its blind spots, its moments of vulnerability.
His gaze darkened, shadows gathering behind his eyes like storm clouds building on the horizon. "Where is this person now?"
Marcus hesitated a fraction of a second, barely a breath, but Kade caught it. "Missing."
The word landed heavily, a stone dropped into a grave.
Kade's lips pressed into a thin line, bloodless with restrained fury. "Since when?"
