Darkness enshrouded Liam, Scarlett, and Louise. Behind them, at the mouth of the narrow passage, Eliot’s shouts and the crackle of gunfire faded fast—growing distant, then swallowed whole by silence. Only their ragged gasps and Louise’s quiet sobs bounced off the stone walls.
“Slow down, I can’t see…” Scarlett whispered. Liam’s hand clamped tight around her arm, and with the other, she pressed Louise’s face to her shoulder, trying to shield the child from the suffocating blackness.
Liam halted, patting his pockets. No light. He held his breath and listened. Beyond their own sounds, there was only dead silence ahead; behind them… no footsteps of pursuers, for now. Eliot and the others must have been waylaid by the smoke and the labyrinth of side passages.
“We can’t stop,” his voice was r
