Walking through the pulverized concrete…
Wearing his full service dress blue uniform, his four silver stars catching the remaining halogen downlights…
Came Vice Admiral David Mercer, Chief of Naval Operations.
Beside him walked United States Attorney Marcus Cooper, holding an unsealed, four-hundred-page federal grand jury indictment stamped with the red wax seal of the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT.
And walking between them…
Wearing his grandfather’s twenty-ounce Scottish tweed hacking jacket, his hand-welted leather boots crushing the shattered glass into the floorboards with a clean, concussive tack… tack… tack…
Holding five-year-old Leo by the hand, his bronze transit pin gleaming beside his lapel, his gaze steady and unbroken…
Was Ethan Arthur Mercer-Vance.
Me.
Alive.
Beside me walked Claire Reed, her hazel eyes bright with un-broken strength.
And walking on our left flank, his fangs bared, his amber eyes fixed on the Chief Justice…
Was Barnaby.
Chief Justice Arthur Sterling-Vance did not dive for cover.
