Meanwhile.
Far from the wrecked auditorium, where the crowd was still reeling from the sudden attack, a man sprinted down a quiet, dimly lit hallway. His footsteps echoed with rising desperation. Sweat clung to his face, and his breath came in short, frantic gasps.
Kai Foster and Ethan's third associate—the one who was supposed to stay hidden, the one who wasn't even meant to be involved directly—was losing it.
"Damn it... damn it…!" he cursed under his breath. "How the hell did the information leak?! The attack was airtight! No one was supposed to know—no one!"
He yanked open a service door, slipping into one of the side wings of the academy, away from the main flow of traffic. But the deeper he ran, the more he felt the walls closing in.
He couldn't hear the crowd anymore.
Too quiet.
His panic only worsened.
And then—
"Professor Jade Cole."
A voice, calm and cold, echoed down the corridor.
He froze.
His breath caught. Slowly, almost unwillingly, he turned around.
