Sirens burst into the hall in ragged bursts,first distant, then closer, closer, like a pack of hounds racing toward the call.
Men in black poured into the room,not the clan's security, but federal agents. Badges flashed in open palms; faces were stone, eyes cold.
Cameras snapped toward them instantly. Flashes sliced through the dimness, pulling faces out of the half-light,guests bewildered, twisted with fear, rage, disbelief.
The vampires' guards froze for a heartbeat,too much light, too many witnesses, too many lenses aimed straight at their fangs.
Panic surged even harder among both vampires and humans: the vampires had broken their own laws.
Anna stood motionless at the very heart of the storm. She deliberately kept distance from anyone near the human.
She stared at the screen for one more second,memorizing every line, every name, every date,then spun sharply toward Ethan.
There was no panic in her gaze, only pure clarity.
"Get out," she exhaled. The words drowned in the roar, but they struck him like a slap.
Ethan raised an eyebrow,he had clearly been expecting some kind of praise for the work he'd done.
"Now?"
"Right now," she leaned in close; her fingers slid along his tie as though straightening it, but really covering the movement of her lips.
"While they're in chaos, you have to leave right now. I'll try to keep them distracted."
Richard Hale was already bellowing into his radio, drowning out the crowd's screams:
"No one leaves the perimeter! Check everyone! Especially technical staff! Move!"
His voice rasped with strain but cut like an order on a battlefield.
Anna flicked a glance in his direction.
"See?" she hissed.
"He's already counting every step in the room."
Ethan caught her eyes.
"And you?"
The corner of her mouth twitched,almost a smile.
"I have to stay. Otherwise it looks like flight.
And I don't want to be suspected right now…"
He understood instantly. Anna was taking the hit for them.
"Secondary exit," she whispered without breaking eye contact.
"Through the kitchen,left corridor after the wine room.
Security won't go there right now,they're busy with something else entirely."
"Why are you helping again?" he asked with a faint smile.
Anna held his gaze a heartbeat longer than the situation allowed. Something alive,almost human,flickered in her pupils.
"Because you're too valuable now.
And far too dangerous alive. You know too much… and you're needed."
She stepped back half a pace, turned toward the crowd, and raised her hand in a commanding gesture.
"Everyone, please remain calm!" Her voice sliced through the noise.
"We are fully cooperating with the authorities!
No one is hiding! Everything is under control!"
A masterful move.
Every eye, every camera, every face, every flash instantly locked onto her.
Ethan melted into the movement of the crowd.
He didn't run,if he had even tried…
He walked steadily between the backs of humans and vampires. At the bar his shoulder lightly brushed a waiter.
The man didn't look up.
"Three minutes was enough," Flash breathed without moving his lips, arranging glasses on a tray.
"Richard blocked the main exit."
"Server room?" Ethan asked just as quietly, picking up an empty glass as though he wanted a drink.
"Empty," Flash replied.
"They were six minutes too late."
At the far end of the hall Bruno was collecting glasses,movements smooth, tired, like any waiter at the end of a shift.
His gaze caught Ethan's through the crowd. He gave a short, approving nod.
They moved toward the service door one by one,each four minutes apart, disappearing like ordinary people.
A group would have been noticed; they made sure everything stayed quiet.
In the technical booth, hell had already broken loose.
Guards stormed in with weapons raised, overturning chairs, ripping open cabinets, sweeping thermal scanners.
"Where's the operator?!" one roared, jabbing his barrel into empty air.
"No one!" the second barked, scanning terminals.
"Remote access! What the hell? They were here!"
Then another guard shouted, looking up.
"Ventilation,we need to check up there!"
"Clear!" the second snapped, clearly unhappy.
Too clear.
In the hall Elizabeth slowly turned.
Her gaze swept across the waiters, then Gérard in the center. Finally she looked to where Ethan had stood moments earlier.
Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"He's leaving," she said quietly to Roy.
Roy didn't turn.
"I know," he said, tightening his grip on the glass.
"Stop him?" Elizabeth paused long, watching Roy.
He looked at the journalists, the federals, the cameras. Tens of thousands,maybe more,were watching through them.
"Not now," he answered quietly.
"If we execute a human without cause in front of a thousand eyes, it will look bad…"
Elizabeth gave the faintest nod.
"He'll come back."
"Of course," Roy said coldly.
"People like him always come back."
"Apparently he remembers something… but I don't know what exactly stayed in his memory."
In the kitchen corridor the air smelled of burnt oil, spices, and assorted dishes.
The roar of the hall faded; they no longer heard the loudest screams from the crowd or reporters thrusting microphones into mouths.
Ethan pushed open the heavy door first. He glanced right.
Flash was already waiting,peeling off white gloves and tossing each into the trash bin.
"We finally did something," he said without looking up.
"Those clips are topping global trends."
"Our first step,very ugly step…" Ethan said quietly, staring at the sky.
Bruno slammed the door shut behind them and leaned back against the metal, listening to Flash's words.
"Anna?" Bruno asked.
"She stayed. We don't need her,she's playing her own game without us," Ethan replied.
"You two danced so nicely,I almost didn't want to interrupt at the best part," Flash said, lighting a cigarette.
They stood in silence for several minutes.
Outside the sirens were now howling point-blank.
Shouts, pounding boots, and a very angry vampire elite.
Flash looked straight at Ethan,no smile.
"Now the real hunt begins,especially for our heads…"
Ethan cast one last glance at the hall windows.
There, amid the camera flashes, Anna stood beside Gérard speaking into a microphone,calm, composed, as though this entire hell had been part of her plan.
"Let it begin," he said quietly. "I need to get to Maria,any way I can."