Chapter 16 - Fortifying the CastleWithin five minutes, the Brooks mansion transformed from a quiet family home into an impregnable military redoubt.
Daniel moved with cold, calculated precision, waking Lucas and Elena up and moving them down into the reinforced panic room hidden beneath the massive stone fireplace in the library—a subterranean vault built to withstand direct rocket-propelled grenade strikes.
Lucas clung tightly to Natalie’s hand, his eyes wide with a mature, terrified understanding.
“Are they coming back, Natalie?” the boy asked, his voice shaking slightly, though he tried hard to be brave for his little sister.
Natalie knelt down, cupping his face in her hands, just as she had years ago when he threw the bronze horse. “They are going to try, Lucas. But your father and I are standing right here. Nothing is going to touch you. Do you hear me?”
Lucas nodded, a fierce spark of courage igniting in his young eyes. “I’m not running anymore either.”
Natalie kissed his forehead, locked the heavy steel vault door securely from the outside, and handed the manual override key to Daniel.
Upstairs, the estate lights flickered and died as the Vanguard severed the main power grid. The massive mansion was plunged into absolute darkness, illuminated only by the pale, eerie glow of the moonlight cutting through the storm-tossed windows.
Daniel and Natalie took positions at opposite ends of the grand second-floor landing, overlooking the sweeping staircase and the main foyer.
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The heavy oak front doors didn’t just open—they exploded inward in a blinding flash of concussive force and splintered timber.
The Vanguard had arrived.
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