Something else takes its place.
Predator.
Controlled.Lethal.Listening.
The steps draw closer.
Not heavy.Not careless.
Deliberate.
Predatory.
Someone isn’t just walking this corridor—
They’re hunting it.
My fingers slide from the steel and curl tight against my chest, searching for something that isn’t there.
A weapon.A miracle.An exit.
The lantern outside the vault flickers once.
Twice.
The flame gutters as if it knows.
Shadows stretch long and wrong across the corridor—bones and mouths where walls should be.
Another step.
Closer.
My pulse pounds so loudly I’m sure it’s traveling down the tunnel ahead of me.
And then—
Click.
The unmistakable sound of a chambered round.
Metal kissing metal.
Final.
Unforgiving.
Real.
My stomach drops as if the floor just vanished beneath my feet.
On the other side of the door, Santino exhales.
Barely.
Then his voice cuts the dark—
Low.Steady.
