“But he does not know Bishop,” I said.

I looked around the smoke-filled room.

Bishop was not beside me.

He was not near the fallen guards.

I closed my eyes and listened.

Beneath the sound of dripping water and the hum of the warehouse generators, I heard it.

A low, rhythmic scratching sound.

It was the sound of dog claws gripping the metal stairs in the dark corridor.

“He is hunting him,” I said.

Lucian stood up, pulling a silver pistol from his waistband.

“We go together,” he said.

“No,” I said, stepping in front of him.

“If Victor sees your men, he will destroy the drive.”

“He will throw it into the river.”

“That drive has the encryption keys to my mother’s old files,” I said.

“It is the only thing that proves she did not betray your sister, Elena.”

Lucian looked at me, his jaw tight.

The mention of his sister’s name always brought a cold, dangerous stillness to his eyes.

For years, the syndicate believed my mother had set up the ambush that killed Elena.

It was the lie that had ruined my family’s name.