The Broken Legacy of a Protective Mother and a Shadowed Empire
The flashlight beams from both tunnels danced across the wet brick walls, getting closer and closer.
I could hear the squelch of tactical boots in the mud.
“Drop the weapon!” a man’s voice barked from the left tunnel.
I raised the gun, aiming it at the center of the bright light ahead.
My hands were shaking, but I held the grip with both hands, bracing my elbows.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated violently in my pocket.
The screen lit up against my chest, casting a pale blue glow over my chin.
I risked a glance down at the screen.
It was a text message from an unsaved number.
The message read:
*Look up.*
I looked up.
The ceiling of the tunnel was a rusted iron grate, five feet above my head.
A face leaned over the metal bars.
It was Giovanni.
He reached his hand down through a wide gap where a bar had been cut away.
“Give me your hand,” he whispered.
His voice was low, steady, and familiar in the dark.
I grabbed Sullivan’s arm first.
“Go,” I muttered, pushing the doctor toward the rusted ladder bolted to the wet brick.