Chapter 644
Chapter 644:
Skye’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. If he checked… if he saw Liam…
“My ankle!” Skye cried out suddenly, buckling her knees.
She dropped to the floor, dragging Lucian’s arm down with her. “I can’t walk fast! I twisted it running from Liam p>
Lucian looked down, annoyed. He sneered at her crumpled form. “Get up, you useless traitor,” he spat, his suspicion regarding the curtain forgotten in the face of her inconvenience.
He dragged her out of the room.
The door clicked shut.
Inside the alcove, Liam burst through the curtains. He stood in the center of the empty room, his chest heaving. He stared at the closed door, the silence mocking him. He turned and slammed his fist into the mirror.
The glass shattered, spiderwebbing out from the impact point, distorting his reflection into a hundred angry fragments. Blood dripped from his knuckles.
“Alistair,” Liam said, his voice a guttural growl into the comms. “They’re moving. Do we have the signal p>
“Loud and clear,” Alistair replied. “The tracker is active. She’s heading to the service elevator p>
Down in the service elevator, Skye was shoved against the wall.
Lucian pressed a button on a remote in his pocket.
“Timers disabled,” he muttered to his men. “We’re leaving p>
Skye let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. The bomb threat was neutralized for their exit.
“I’m coming for you, Lucian,” she thought, feeling the tracker press against her ribs. “And this time, I’m bringing the fire p>
The van didn’t head for the mountains. It didn’t turn toward the cliffside estate that Skye knew Liam had already compromised. Lucian was paranoid, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew the Graves Estate was burned.
Instead, the vehicle rumbled deep into the industrial decay of the shipyards, an area known as Ironworks.
𝘖𝗿𝗶𝗀𝗶𝗇𝘢𝗅 с𝗼n𝘵e𝗇𝘵 𝗳ro𝘮 𝘣еlոo𝗏e𝗹𝗌.c𝘰𝘮
The hideout was a decommissioned subterranean bunker beneath a defunct steel refinery. The walls were thick concrete, stained with decades of rust and grime. It smelled of stagnant water and old diesel.
Skye was dragged into the main command room. It was a makeshift setup: portable servers humming on folding tables, cables snaking across the wet floor like vipers.
Tessa was already there, huddled in a corner. She looked terrified, her maid’s uniform torn at the shoulder. Lucian hadn’t left her behind at the hotel; in the chaos of the gas and the gunfire, his men had snatched her as leverage, throwing her into the getaway vehicle before fleeing the scene.
Seeing Skye, Tessa’s eyes widened, a mixture of relief and fresh horror.
“Secure the perimeter,” Lucian barked at his men. “We are dark here. No signals in or out p>
The door opened, and Elara walked in.
She was tall, with a shaved head and eyes like cold flint. She wore tactical gear and moved with the silent grace of a predator. She held a wand scanner in her hand.