No moment of reflection. Even at this distance with subsonic rounds, the report of gunfire will likely have this place more active.
I step over her body, reaching for the door. The room already filling with the scent of cordite and copper.
The corridor greets me the same way I left it—empty.
But that changes.
Footsteps approach fast.
I turn just as Sam comes into view, and for half a second, just a fraction, I think he’s carrying Seraphina.
Everything in me freezes.
Then I see her.
Smaller.
Younger.
Ophelia.
She buries her face into Sam, fingers fisting his shirt, her entire body curled inward like she’s trying to disappear, and Sam… Sam looks like he’s holding himself together by a thread.
“Logan and the mother?”
“We need to call an ambulance,” he says, voice rough, unsteady.
“Sam, answer me.”
“It’s fucked, we need EMT’s now.”
“No.”
The word is immediate, firm. His head snaps up, something like disbelief flashing across his face, but I don’t give it room to grow.
“South Gate. If she needs medical attention, take the rear exit—alarms are already silenced,” I tell him. “My team’s waiting. They’ll handle her. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, man, but we can’t just—”
“We can,” I cut in, my tone lowering—a quiet reminder of exactly who he’s speaking to. “And we will.” The words land flatter than I intend, edged with something heavier beneath. “Bringing in authorities will only muddy the water…and I won’t have this spiral beyond our control.”
He looks down at the girl, then back at me, something unspoken passing between us.
Trust.
He nods.
Tightens his hold on her.
Then he moves.
I watch him go for a second longer than I should, my gaze drifting past him, back down the corridor he came from, wondering what he left behind.
Then I turn away. My earpiece goes off. Logan is already on his way out, Jonathon redirected him with a few other team members… it seems the mother didn’t make it.
“It seems we have lost the mother. It was self-inflicted. Shame too much to bear.” Igor speaks into my earpiece. I weigh his words for a moment. Trying to find understanding when it was too open for speculation.
It is why setting goals and achieving each is important, it fuels you, gives you purpose. Like why I am here.
