His finger tightened—
My hand closed on his wrist. The gun twisted free. Bone broke.
Lina dropped low, twisting out of his hold.
I drove him back into the wall. The rifle discharged once, scorching the ceiling.
Then silence.
He sagged.
Didn’t rise.
Lina stumbled toward me, unsteady. The sedative cloth still clung to her hand.
Before she could fall, I caught her wrist and steadied her.
“Are you all right?”
“I will be.” Her voice shook but held. “You shouldn’t have come alone.”
“I didn’t,” I said.
She gave a breath of a laugh—frayed, real—and then she was against me, arms around my neck, holding tight.
I let her.
Only for a moment.
A new sound rolled through the tunnels—metal bending, engines forcing deeper.
She pulled back. “They’re not all gone.”
“No.”
I drew a sidearm from my belt and pressed it into her hand. “Stay behind me.”
She nodded.
We moved.
We fought our way back through smoke and debris, step by step, covering each other. By the time we reached the central hall, the guards had driven the remaining raiders toward the sealed tunnels.
The last shot echoed.
Then silence fell.
Veklan stood at the corridor entrance, eyes scanning. When he saw Lina upright, breathing, something in his stance eased.
“You disobeyed orders,” he said.
“Yes.”
“And you brought her back.”
A pause.
“The council will call it even.”
