Ren slipped through the shadowed corridors like a ghost, bare feet silent against the plush carpet.
The mansion's east wing gave way to service stairs, then a narrow servants' passage that smelled of old wax and lemon polish. He pushed through a side door into the night air.
The garden stretched before him, manicured hedges, marble fountains, moonlit rose bushes that looked too perfect to be real. He crouched low and moved fast, sticking to the darker patches between lanterns.
Halfway across the lawn, a beam of light snapped on.
"Stop right there."
A security woman stepped out from behind a trellis. Black tactical vest, short-cropped hair, stun baton already extended. Her eyes narrowed at the shirtless man in night pants who clearly didn't belong.
Ren slowed but didn't stop walking toward her. His fingers flexed. One quick attack from him to her neck and she'd be on the ground twitching. Easy.
