Silence fell like a dropped curtain as the whir of hardware fell silent. For a heartbeat, there was nothing.
A second later, emergency lights blinked on, dim and red.
No glowing displays. No Board of Governors. Just gutted metal panels and the acrid smell of burning circuitry.
Raquel had stumbled and fallen on the far side of the vault. She stared at the dead system in horror. “You idiot. Do you know what you’ve done?!”
“Yes,” Eliana whispered.
She’d made it worthless. Maybe not destroyed. Was anything done byDominatusever over? But for now, Raquel—and Lydia—couldn’t get their hands on it. And neither could anyone else. Whatever leverage Lydia wanted. Whatever power Patience had killed for. Whatever threat hung over Carlos’s life.
It was all gone.
Raquel lunged again, wild with fury. Her fists battered Eliana’s head. Her shoulders, her face. Eliana covered her head with her arms while Raquel screamed, raining down blows. Eliana kicked out at her, shoving her back, then scrambled again for the knife.
She needed to keep Raquel away and get the door open so Maizie could cuff her. She turned to Raquel, the knife first. “Get back?—”
Raquel was too fast.
The knife plunged into her stomach.
Eliana cried out, “No!” reflexively letting go of the knife. Falling back. Breathing hard, looking at the blood now seeping from around the knife. Dampening the dress around it.
Raquel staggered back, gasping. She grabbed the knife handle with both hands. “What did you do?” She slid the knife from her abdomen, and blood flowed freely. The knife toppled from her bloody fingers to the floor.
Eliana didn’t move.
“What did you do?” Raquel repeated.
The vault door wheel began to turn from the outside.
Metal groaned.
The door cracked open.
Eliana watched Raquel fall to the floor, tears rolling down her face. Flashlights swept the inside of the vault, and she heard, “Police!”
Maizie’s voice cut through the darkness. “Nobody move!”
Eliana lifted a hand and shielded her eyes. “Maizie?”
Her sister stepped over Raquel, and uniformed officers crowded in after her. One knelt and put two fingers to Raquel’s neck. He looked at Maizie. “She’s gone, Captain.”
“Good.” Maizie grabbed Eliana’s face with both hands. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.” Her voice shook, and she managed to shake her head. “Tony?—”
“He’s alive. The paramedics got to him in time.”
Relief hit so hard her knees almost buckled, but her sister kept her standing. “And the bomb?” Eliana asked. “Carlos. Everyone. Upstairs. I—” Her breath hitched. “I heard an explosion.”
“Walk with me.” Her sister put her arm around her, steering her out of the vault.
“Wait!”
Maizie shook her head. “We need to get out of here so someone can check you over.”
“We need Raquel’s phone. You need to track Wallace so we can find Carlos.” Her breath came fast and sharp, but Eliana knew she had to get control. She wanted to know what had happened with the bomb. As much as she wanted Carlos back, there were other people she had to consider as well. Innocents caught up in all this.
