The Wolf’s Den

"Gas," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "He's gassing her."

Vesper snatched the phone from my hand. She watched the video, her face grim.

"It's a localized release," she said, her eyes scanning the background details. "Probably nerve agent. He's not killing her fast. He's suffocating her."

"We have to move," Felix said, already checking his weapons. "San Lazaro is five miles east."

"We'll never make it on foot," I said. "Not in time."

Vesper looked at her team. "We have the ATVs stashed by the creek. They're fast, but they're loud. We'll be announcing our arrival."

"Good," I said, checking the charge on the railgun. "Let them know we're coming."

We moved through the forest like a pack of wolves. The ATVs roared to life, tearing up the undergrowth as we sped toward the city. The wind whipped my hair, cold and sharp, but I didn't feel it. All I could feel was the clock ticking down.

San Lazaro rose out of the darkness like a tombstone. It was a massive, brutalist structure, its windows dark and empty. Except for one light on the third floor.

"Perimeter is hot," Vesper shouted over the engine noise. "Thermal shows six heat signatures on the roof. Four at the main entrance."

"We hit the main entrance," I said. "Draw their fire. Felix, you take the side door. Get to the HVAC controls. Shut down the ventilation."

"And you?" Felix asked.

"I'm going up the wall."

I pointed to the fire escape. It was rusted, hanging loose from the brickwork, but it led directly to the third floor. To the window where the light was burning.

"Cover me," I said.

Vesper nodded. "Give 'em hell, kid."

She gunned the engine of her ATV, driving straight at the main doors. Her team opened fire, suppressing the guards.

I sprinted for the fire escape. Bullets kicked up dirt around my feet, but Vesper's diversion was working. I jumped, grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder. It groaned under my weight but held.

I climbed. My muscles burned, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

First floor. Second floor.

I reached the third-floor landing. The window was boarded up, but the wood was rotten. I smashed it with the butt of the railgun.

I climbed through into the hallway.

The air was thick with a greenish haze. It smelled of almonds and death.

I pulled my shirt up over my nose. It wouldn't filter out the gas, but it might buy me a few seconds.

I moved toward the room.

"Elena!" I shouted.

No answer.

I kicked the door open.

The room was filled with gas. I could barely see the bed.

I ran to it. Elena was there. Her eyes were closed. Her chest wasn't moving.

"No," I choked out. "No, no, no."

I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "Elena! Wake up!"

She didn't move.

I heard a sound behind me. A slow, sarcastic clap.

"Touching," a voice said.

I spun around, raising the railgun.

Lucius stood in the doorway. He was wearing a gas mask. He held a pistol in one hand and a remote control in the other.

"She's gone, Aria," he said, his voice muffled by the mask. "You were too late."

"You monster," I screamed.

"I'm a businessman," he corrected. "And you have something that belongs to me."

He held out his hand.

"The key."

I looked at Elena. I looked at Lucius.

I felt a cold rage settle in my chest.

"You want the key?" I asked.

I reached into my pocket. I pulled out the drive.

"Here."

I tossed it.

Not to him.

I tossed it into the open ventilation shaft in the corner of the room.

"Oops," I said.

Lucius stared at the vent. Then he looked at me.

"Kill her," he said to the empty hallway.

Two guards stepped into the room. They raised their rifles.

But before they could fire, the floor beneath them exploded.

Felix had found the HVAC controls. And he had overloaded the boiler.

The floor collapsed. The guards fell screaming into the inferno below.

Lucius stumbled back, losing his balance.

I didn't waste the moment. I fired the railgun.

The shot hit him in the chest. It threw him backward, through the doorway, into the hall.

I dropped the weapon and turned back to Elena.

"Wake up," I whispered. "Please."

I put my hand on her chest.

And I felt it.

A flutter. Weak. Erratic.

But there.

She was alive.