“Stairs.”
“Too noisy. Chute.”
“I’m not risking her life,” I snapped.
He gave a faint nod of approval.
Footsteps. Finn appeared, pale, sweating. “North fence is blown. You’re on a clock.”
“Shit, let’s move.”
“I’m coming with you,” Finn said.
I didn’t have time for arguments. “You slip,” I told him, “you don’t just die, you take her with you.”
He nodded. “I came to matter.”
We took the chute, steel slick with age, dropping us into a basement lit by a single bulb. Concrete walls, hook tracks above, and ahead: a steel door.
Link signalled. One inside. No camera.
“Can’t keep her here forever,” Bishop muttered.
Lucy’s voice answered, steady, angry.Unbroken.“You really think Jay’s going to let this happen?”
Gage laughed. “He’ll come. That’s what we want.”
That was it. Enough. No more waiting.
Rox nodded. Riot braced. Link covered the hall. Finn’s pistol trembled, but his eyes were locked forward.
I slammed the door in with my shoulder. Steel screamed. Gage flinched too slow. My pistol levelled on him before he could blink.
“You were right,” I said, my body shaking with fury. “I did come.”
Bishop’s eyes widened. Then he bolted, ducking behind pillars making it impossible for me to get a shot off. Coward.
And there she was. Lucy, chained but upright. Bruised and bloodied, but fire still burning in her eyes.
Her eyes locked onto me, relief and disbelief warring on her face.
Gage lunged from the corner. Finn stepped in front, gun raised, one shot, dead centre. The man dropped like stone.
Riot gave a low whistle. “Prospect’s got timing.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Finn. “Good shot. Don’t let it go to your head.”
Then I was at her side, breaking the chain lock with the butt of my pistol. She collapsed into me, fists gripping my kutte like a lifeline, laughing and crying all at once.
Gunfire rattled above, chaos spreading through the compound. The Fangs were trying to hold. Keno and Riot peeled off.
Rox appeared at my side. “We move, now.”
I looked at Lucy again, too pale, with finger-shaped bruises marring her skin.
My vision tunnelled and a rage I’d never known before burned through me.
“Take her,” I snarled, shoving Lucy into Rox’s arms. “Don’t let go.”
