My rifle scratches the concrete as I drag it up and stand, looking at the ceiling with my eyes closed and my chest heaving.
“Rowan—”
And then… I hear it.
Cough.
Cough. Cough.
My eyes go wide in shock when, out of fucking nowhere, a small, almost inaudible cough breaks through my daze, bringing me back.
“Shut up,” I tell Hawke.
“Okay, listen, I know Fletcher screwed us up with his intel, but…”
I walk past him, accidentally bumping into his shoulder on my way back to the crypt.
Who the fuck was that?
I walk a few steps toward what I heard, then stop, hoping to hear it again. But I don’t.
Instead… a different faint sound echoes somewhere in the distance. Footsteps?
I freeze, straining to listen, but they fade into silence.
“What?” Hawke says. “What did you hear?”
Dove
Darkness presses down on me as I cling to the cracked walls, trudging forward. I stopped running, but only for a quick moment to catch my breath.
Thud.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of heavy footsteps spears through my web of anxious thoughts. My eyes snap toward it, holding my breath and covering my mouth with both hands, my muffled whimpers dying into the cushion of my palms.
It’s not him, my logic tells me. Rowan brought an entire army with him. It makes no sense that he would be here by himself. Which means… which means it has to be someone from the EFW, and I can’t let myself get caught.I can’t.
Stay calm,I tell myself.They don’t know you’re here.
But my heart thrashes in my chest, loud and desperate to find a safe place.
I slide out of the way, pressing my back to the wall and hide.
Rowan
The sound I’m chasing quiets down. Whoever this is, they don’t want to be found.
Attuning myself to the forced silence, I pick up a subtle movement as my prey shifts to the right.
It’s quiet, and it almost went unnoticed, which only tells me they’re trying really hard.
Cute.
I inch closer just to see what they do, if they move with me or not.
My lips twitch upward behind my mask when I register another sound.
