The sound of metal groaning beneath rushing footsteps echoed above them. Adrian’s blood smeared the railing as Sophie helped him down the fire escape, step by step, her heart pounding like a war drum.
"Just a little more," she whispered, her voice shaking more from fear than cold. "You’re not dying on me. Not tonight."
Adrian grunted, gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his side. “Dying isn’t part of the plan.”
Behind them, the black-clad assassin was closing in, descending the fire escape with deadly speed and precision. Sophie could hear the soft thuds of boots landing hard on steel.
Adrian looked up at her, breath ragged. "Split up at the alley. Draw him away."
“No!” she snapped. “We do this together.”
“Then we both die.”
His tone was too calm — too final.
Sophie clen
