He pressed his fingers over mine, helping me turn the key.

The lock clicked open.

I pulled the heavy iron hatch upward.

A draft of cool, damp air rushed up from the dark tunnel below.

It smelled of wet earth and decay.

“You go first,” I told the doctor.

“I can’t,” Sullivan whimpered, looking into the darkness.

“You have to,” I said, shoving him toward the opening.

“I need you to hold Luca while I climb down.”

The sounds of the battle upstairs were intensifying.

I could hear the muffled explosions of grenades from the main house above us.

Giovanni’s men were fighting Vance’s forces in the hallways.

The entire estate was becoming a war zone.

Dr. Sullivan lowered himself into the hatch, his legs dangling into the dark.

He reached up his arms.

“Give him to me,” the doctor said.

I carefully handed Luca down into the darkness.

The baby was still warm, but he did not cry.

He only made a small, soft sighing sound.

Just as I prepared to lower myself into the hatch, the red emergency lights in the bunker flickered.