The alarms were so loud the walls vibrated.
Red lights pulsed across every corridor, sirens howled in overlapping waves, and the stronghold once a fortress of order had become a metal labyrinth collapsing under its own fear.
Halverson led the way through the lower access tunnels, rifle raised, breathing sharp and focused.
Kira stalked behind him, blade in one hand, stolen handgun in the other.
Rael moved silently at my side, her presence unsettlingly calm, like she’d been born inside a warzone.
And me?
I just tried to keep up.
The bruises on my ribs burned.
My shoulder throbbed with every step.
Steam hissed from every ceiling pipe like angry spirits.
Halverson slowed as we approached an intersection.
“Command center is three floors up,” he whispered. “But Path operatives contr
