They didn't make it out.
Lucian stopped just as they reached the outer corridor, the shift immediate and controlled. The group reacted without needing instruction, movement tightening, attention sharpening in the same direction.
Julian already knew why.
They weren't alone.
Alaric stood ahead, exactly where the corridor opened into a wider section of the structure, his presence settled into the space like he had chosen it long before they arrived. Valen remained a few steps behind him, angled slightly to the side, his focus moving across Lucian's group with quiet interest.
This wasn't coincidence.
Julian had seen them before. Spoken to them. Felt the same controlled hostility that now filled the space between them.
Nothing about this meeting was new.
Only the timing.
Alaric's gaze settled on Lucian.
"You move faster when you're forced," he said, voice even, as though they were continuing a conversation that had never properly ended.
Lucian didn't answer.
