I don’t stop or slow down.
“You said they want to contain us,” I growl. “Good.”
I step forward, boots crunching over gravel.
“Guthrie—”
“They won’t be ready for me like this.” The words come out rough, my body already tightening, heat building beneath my skin.
The closer I get, the worse it gets. Pressure slams behind my ribs, like something inside me is trying to break out.
My vision sharpens. Narrows. Everything reduces to one thing.
Her.
A low hum pulses through the air. Not mine. Theirs.
Suppressors.
I feel them before I see them. Metal nodes mounted along the structure, half-buried in the earth, faintly vibrating.
They’re trying to suppress the hum.
Suppress me.
My teeth grind together.
“Find the main unit,” Ash mutters behind me. “If we take it out?—”
“I don’t need to take it out.” I reach down, gripping the nearest node and ripping it free from the ground.
The moment it breaks, everything surges.
The hum slams back into me like a wave. The lights on the building flicker. Inside, shouting rises.
Ash curses under his breath. “Well… subtle’s gone.”
“Wasn’t planning on subtle.”
The front door bursts open before I reach it. Two men spill out, weapons raised. “Stop right there!”
I don’t.
The first one fires.
Pain snaps across my side. I barely feel it. I’m already on him.
I grab his arm, twisting. Bone cracks. The weapon drops. The second man swings.
Ash takes him out from behind, fast, efficient. “Left side!” he barks.
I’m already moving. The air inside is wrong.
Cold. Sterile. Artificial.
The hum twists, distorted by whatever they’ve built here. My head pounds.
But underneath it, I feel her. Faint. Strained. Alive.
