Felix's smile grew sharper.
"I need my grandson for an hour," he said. "Either he comes with me, or everyone around him is going to bleed their lungs out before Stanford takes his second step."
His light purple eyes moved to Liam.
"You choose."
Liam felt the world stop around him.
The sunlight on the polished black side of the ether car seemed to linger coldly. The white knuckles of Enia's hand around Liam's wrist. Mirelle's breath, sharp and controlled beside him. Andreas frozen in the doorway with two assistants behind him, all three pale enough to look already half-dead. Stanford standing several paces away, one hand raised slightly to hold back the shadows who had appeared from places no normal person would have noticed.
They had surrounded the car in a very subtle way.
One on the opposite roofline. Two by the side alley. Another near the streetlamp, dressed like a passerby and holding himself like a blade. Stanford had moved fast. The Shadows had moved faster.
