For a few seconds, he just stared at the phone, his finger frozen over the button.
"Don't answer," Flash said, already opening his laptop and starting the trace.
The phone kept vibrating insistently.
Ethan slowly raised it to his ear.
"Yes?"
There was silence on the line, then a soft, feminine voice gently greeted him.
"Hello, Ethan."
He froze.
"Anna?"
The room instantly grew colder.
Flash stood up sharply and moved closer, trying to hear the conversation. Bruno stopped with his backpack in his hands, his fingers tightening on the straps.
"I was hoping this was still your number," she said softly, almost warmly.
Ethan frowned, his voice dropping lower.
"How did you find it?"
A short pause.
"I have resources."
"I didn't give it to anyone," his voice grew harsher.
"And you never gave me yours either…"
Flash had already opened his laptop and was typing rapidly, trying to track the signal. His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Anna let out a quiet sigh, barely audible, but it carried a note of exhaustion.
"You're right. I never shared it."
"Then how?"
"Through a chain of old contacts. One journalist, a few databases from intermediaries."
Ethan shook his head, his lips pressed tight.
"That sounds like half the city."
"Sometimes half the city is the network."
Flash whispered quietly, not looking away from the screen:
"She's masking the route… the signal is bouncing across three continents."
Bruno gestured for him to be careful.
Ethan stepped back a couple of paces, pressing the phone closer to his ear.
"Why are you calling?"
On the other end of the line, there was a faint sound of movement, as if she was walking around the room.
"Because you're leaving," she said calmly.
Flash froze.
Bruno slowly lifted his head.
Ethan felt something tighten inside his chest.
"How do you know?"
"Because it's logical."
A pause.
"After what happened, your safehouse is no longer safe. You've realized that."
"And you're not the type to wait until the door gets kicked in."
Flash muttered softly:
"She's analyzing."
Ethan glanced at him, then stared into the space in front of him again.
"Are you calling to warn us?"
"To offer an alternative," Anna said coyly.
Bruno frowned.
Flash raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"What kind?" Ethan asked, his voice growing quieter.
Anna was silent for several seconds.
"There's a place that neither the special services nor the clans know about," she said at last. "An old facility outside the city. It once belonged to my family."
Flash exhaled silently.
"Of course."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"And you're just going to give us the address?"
"I won't give it to you," she said.
"Then what?"
Her voice softened slightly.
"I'm offering you sanctuary."
Bruno said quietly:
"Too convenient."
Flash nodded.
Ethan slowly paced the room.
"Why?"
"Because the world is changing faster than any of us expected," Anna replied.
"And I need people who aren't afraid of us. People like you."
"We don't need a job," Ethan said sharply.
"I'm not offering you a job," Anna said, rolling her eyes.
A heavy silence fell over the safehouse,not the kind that brings comfort, but the kind that presses against your temples. The servers continued to hum, but their sound now seemed distant, almost alien. The light from the lamps was cold and harsh, casting long shadows from the crates and the people.
On the table lay Ethan's phone, the screen already dark, but his fingers were still gripping it too tightly, his knuckles white.
Flash exhaled sharply and slammed his laptop shut. The sound was louder than expected and echoed off the walls.
"Shit," he said, rubbing his face with his palms. "Another minute and they could've pinpointed us."
Bruno stood motionless, arms crossed over his chest. His gaze was fixed on Ethan, not accusatory, but demanding clarity.
"What did she want?" he asked quietly.
Ethan didn't answer right away.
He was still standing by the table, leaning on it with one hand as if trying to keep his balance. Something new had settled in his eyes, the feeling that he had heard an echo of another soul in a familiar voice.
"She said thank you," he said finally, his voice low and almost toneless.
Flash snorted, short and joyless.
"Fantastic."
"And she asked us not to interfere in vampire affairs," Ethan added, looking at them.
Bruno frowned, his brows knitting into a deep crease.
"That sounds like a warning."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Possibly."
Flash looked at him more carefully, his gaze sharp and probing.
"But?"
Ethan raised his eyes. Something dark, almost lost, flickered in them.
"But there was something wrong with her voice."
Bullet quietly meowed from the table,short and wary. Her ears twitched, her tail frozen still.
Bruno crossed his arms tighter.
"In what way?"
Ethan thought for a moment, choosing his words.
"It was like… it wasn't just her anymore."
Flash narrowed his eyes.
"Oh yeah, she absorbed God knows what."
Ethan nodded slowly, the movement heavy, as if he had only just realized the weight of those words.
"Possibly."
Flash leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin.
"You heard that in her voice?" Bruno asked.
"Yes," Ethan answered clearly.
"How?"
Ethan shrugged, the gesture tired.
"It was as if behind her words… there was a lie. Like she's trying to deceive as many people around her as possible."
Bruno stepped closer and leaned on the table next to Ethan.
"Why would she do that?"
"I don't know," Ethan replied.
Flash quietly swore through his teeth.
"So she really didn't just absorb the good traits."
"And now they're… inside her," Bruno added quietly.
Ethan nodded.
"She said we should go to her safehouse…"
Flash straightened up sharply.
"She said that herself?"
"Yes," Ethan answered.
"And how did she say it?"
Ethan thought for a moment.
"Like it's now our burden and we have to go there."
Bruno ran a hand through his hair.