His uniform was dark and clean, and the baton at his hip looked more ceremonial than practical. He stood with hisarms folded at the corner near a doorway marked Lab Access—Authorized Personnel.
He saw us right away.
His gaze narrowed. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
I stepped forward like I belonged there and raised my tool bag slightly, as if to show paperwork tucked inside. I continued to close the distance while gesturing to my bag. The soldier looked down and that moment of misdirection was all I needed. In one smooth movement I drove my forearm hard across his throat, pinning him back against the wall. His eyes widened, hands flying up, but Griff was there too, a shadow at my shoulder.
The soldier’s breath wheezed.
In a flurry of motion, I grabbed the soldier’s head, one hand on either side, and gave it a quick, brutal twist.
His body went slack.
We moved immediately.
Griff and I dragged the body into a supply alcove behind a pile of stacked crates. Elias took his uniform just in case and pulled a tarp down over him he’d found tossed to the side.
Bishop glanced down the corridor. “We’re behind schedule now.”
“Barely,” Tamsin said. “Move. Now.”
We pushed deeper into the lab sector. Then we heard the footsteps. Not just one pair, but many.
I pressed into an alcove between two pipe housings and the rest followed. We held still as the corridor filled with movement.
Ashcroft came first.
He moved like he owned the very ground he walked on. He wore a long coat and a pair of gloves. His silver hair was neat, even down here. His face was calm, eyes alert.
Behind him walked three men in expensive coats, their boots too clean for these tiles. I recognized them as politicians and council members. They stopped outside a wide door with frosted glass panels. I could see silhouettes inside, likely more staff, and a long table surrounded by chairs.
It was a conference room.
Ashcroft’s escort opened the door. He and the rest of the group filed in.
As soon as the door shut, Tamsin’s hand closed around my sleeve just enough to keep me from moving. She leaned close, her voice barely audible.
“Hold,” she said.
I nodded once.
It took monumental effort to just stand there and let him walk inside that room. To let him breathe. To let him keep believing he was untouchable.
But she was right.
This wasn’t the time.
At least, not yet.
CHAPTER 26
Tamsin
Eamon peeled off first, already turning down the narrow service corridor that led deeper into the facility. From Nox’s prior reconnaissance, we knew stocks of the drug were kept a few levels down.
Bishop took off after that.
One second, he was beside us, the next he slipped through the side stairwell that fed directly into the security control room.
