POV: Maya
Sixty seconds. The numbers echoed through the loudspeakers, each one a hammer blow against my skull.
"Fifty-nine."
I tried to push myself up. My arms shook, muscles spasming. Black blood covered my hands, sticky and wrong.
"Fifty-eight."
"Maya, please!" Elena's voice cracked. "Just surrender! We can figure something out later!"
"Fifty-seven."
But I knew better. I'd seen what Seraphina did to prisoners. Surrender didn't mean mercy. It meant becoming lab rats. Test subjects for whatever new horrors Project Apex wanted to create.
"Fifty-six."
Karl's eyes met mine across the room. Even with a blade at his throat, even bleeding, he shook his head slightly. Don't do it, that gesture said. Don't give her what she wants.
"Fifty-five."
"Where did she go?" Victoria whispered bes
