“Stay where you are,” I command.
I wait, counting the seconds. One. Two. Three.
The emergency generators should kick in at ten.
Four. Five. Six.
Silence. No hum of the backup turbines. No click of the relays. Just rain hammering against the roof.
Seven. Eight.
My hand moves to the small of my back, finding the hilt of the real knife I keep tucked in my waistband.
Nine. Ten.
Darkness.
The generators didn’t fire.
“The lights,” she whispers. “They aren’t coming back.”
“No,” I say flatly. “They aren’t.”
I tap my earpiece. “Varro,” I say. “Report.”
Static. Dead air.
The comms are down. The grid is down. The cameras are blind.
This isn’t the storm.
“Cassian?” Iris says again, panic rising in her voice.
She shuffles on the mat.
“Quiet,” I hiss.
I move through the dark, guided by memory and instinct. I find her and grab her arm.
“Come with me,” I order.
“What’s happening?”
“The lesson is over,” I explain, pulling her toward the door. “The test has begun.”
I reach for my gun on the bench and rack the slide.
The sound is loud in the silent room.Chk-chk.
“Stay behind me,” I say. “And remember where to aim.”
I open the door to the hallway.
The house is a tomb. Silent. Black.
The ten seconds are up.
Someone cut us off from the world.
