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My heart rate doubled. Section C—where we’d entered the ventilation system. If they found the loose panel...

“We need to move,” I breathed. “Now.”

I turned toward the eastern shaft, but Ravik grabbed my arm, his golden eyes intense in the dim light. I didn’t know which of us leaned in first. All I knew was that neither of us pulled away.

He pointed down at the command center, then at a blinking node on one of the security panels.

“Power junction,” he mouthed silently.

Understanding dawned. If that went offline, it would create a much larger distraction than my planned power surge—and potentially cover our tracks regarding the ventilation entry point.

I nodded, but uncertainty must have shown in my expression. How would we disable it from here?

Ravik’s response was immediate and unexpected. He reached up, wrenching a small pipe loose from the hub’s ceiling—some kind of ancient fluid conduit, long dry but still connected to the hub’s structure. With careful precision, he maneuvered it through the grate, using it like a spear to strike the junction box below.

The effect was instantaneous. Sparks erupted from the panel, followed by alarms. The guards below shouted in confusion as screens flickered and died. Emergency lighting activated, bathing the command center in pulsing red.

“Move,” Ravik hissed, already turning toward the eastern shaft.

We scrambled forward, adrenaline lending speed to tired muscles. Behind us, chaos erupted as Hammond’s security system experienced cascading failures. My markings hummed with satisfaction, resonating with the disrupted technology as if appreciating the poetic justice of Hammond’s jury-rigged systems turning against him.

The eastern shaft narrowed again, forcing us to crawl single-file. Ravik’s bulk made the passage challenging for him, but he moved with determined efficiency. Every time our handsbrushed, the world seemed to narrow. It wasn’t alliance. It wasn’t war. It was just… us.

I counted junctions as we passed them, matching them to the mental map I’d constructed. Third right, second left, straight past two more junctions...

A barrier loomed ahead—another grate, this one leading to what appeared to be a storage area. Beyond it, I could make out what might be our exit: a maintenance hatch connected to the original ruin structure, less heavily guarded due to its distance from the central compound.

“There,” I whispered, hope rising since our capture. “That’s our way out.”

I reached the grate, examining the fasteners. Old, rusted, but still secure. We’d need leverage to break through, and the noise would almost certainly alert?—

Ravik’s massive hand closed over mine, pulling me back slightly. With his other hand, he extracted a crude tool from his clothing—a piece of metal he must have salvaged from our cell, shaped into a prying device. His foresight should have surprised me, but I was beginning to expect such tactical thinking from him.

He worked silently, easing the fasteners loose one by one. Each small sound seemed magnified in the narrow space, but the distant alarms from the command center continued to mask our activities. The last fastener gave way, and the grate sagged forward.

“Wait,” he cautioned, examining the storage room beyond. “Motion sensors, there and there.” He indicated small devices mounted in corners.

My markings responded before my conscious mind processed the information, silver patterns flaring as they sensed the security system. “They’re linked to the main grid,” Iwhispered. “Currently in diagnostic mode due to the system failure. We have maybe two minutes before automatic reset.”

“Enough time,” he rumbled.

We slipped through the opening, dropping silently to the floor below. The storage room was filled with salvaged equipment—parts stripped fromThe Seraphyne, mixed with items Hammond’s team had recovered from the ruins. In another situation, I would have been fascinated by the technology. Now, it was just another obstacle between us and freedom.

The maintenance hatch stood on the far wall—a remnant of the original ruin architecture, predating Hammond’s occupation. My markings thrummed with recognition, responding to the ancient technology. This was part of the original environmental regulation system, not unlike what Selene and Kavan had discovered in the eastern ruins.

“I can open it,” I said with certainty, moving toward the hatch. My hands reached for the access panel beside it, markings glowing silver as they interfaced with the dormant system.

The connection was immediate and unexpectedly intense. Energy surged through my markings, not painful but overwhelming—like suddenly hearing a hundred voices after prolonged silence. The ancient system recognized me, or rather, recognized the interface my markings represented. Patterns of light chased across the panel, responding to my touch.

The hatch slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a narrow passage beyond—an emergency exit route from the original facility. Freedom was literally one step away.

Relief crashed through me like a physical force. “We did it,” I breathed, turning to Ravik with a smile I couldn’t suppress.

His expression changed—the stoic mask slipping to reveal something else entirely. He watched me like he was memorizing every inch—like he expected me to disappear before morning.

In that moment of shared triumph, the barriers between us thinned. The bond surged, no longer just a background hum but a bright, singing connection. My markings responded to his lifelines, silver patterns brightening to match his golden ones.

I don’t know which of us moved first. Perhaps we both did. One moment we were standing apart, the next his arms were around me, lifting me effortlessly. My hands found his shoulders, then his face, the texture of his blue skin both alien and somehow familiar beneath my fingers.