I gasp, fingers tightening around the gun now.He taught me to shoot.
Riot doesn’t turn, but he hears the breath hitch.I can tell by the way he shifts half an inch toward me while keeping his gun aimed at the door.
“You okay?”he asks.
“I remembered something,” I whisper.
His jaw ticks.“Later.Survive first.”
The top door above slams again.
The metal groans.Splits.Bows inward.
They’re almost through.
“Riot,” My voice shakes despite my best efforts.“How many?”
“Too many,” he mutters.
“Can we run?”
“Not yet.”
Another strike—BOOM—echoes through the underground.The beam above cracks.Riot steps forward, feet planted, weapon steady.
I crouch behind a support beam like he told me to, heart hammering so hard it hurts.Sweat prickles my palms.The storm outside rips through the forest, wind shrieking through whatever vents the intruders didn’t crawl through.
“What do they want?”I whisper.“The rest of the Kings will be here soon.”
Riot doesn’t answer.Maybe he can’t.Maybe the rage choking him won’t let words come out.
A final violent slam punches the door off its hinges.
It crashes inward.
Shadows spill down the stairway—three, four, five men, all armed, faces hidden behind black masks marked with the raven painted red across its beak.
The same mark that stole my memories.The same mark that stalked us.The same mark pinned to the front of the truck that tried to kill me.
My entire body locks.
They freeze mid-step when they see Riot standing in the open.
One lifts his weapon.“I wouldn’t,” Riot warns.
He fires.Riot moves faster.
Two gunshots crack—one from the intruder, one from Riot.The man at the front drops instantly, slamming into the stairs.Blood splatters the concrete.
The others rush down.
Chaos explodes.
Riot shoves me back as gunfire erupts.
“DOWN, KELLY!”
I drop instantly, hands over my head as bullets scream past, pinging off steel beams.Riot unloads his clip in controlled bursts, every shot precise.The underground becomes smoke, yelling, thunder overhead, footfalls pounding, metal cracking.
