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Kat sucked in a breath of dry air and glanced at the tablet. The same countdown she hadn’t been fast enough to kill. Red light pulsed from the hallway, striping the walls like open wounds. Electricity saturated the air, making her skin buzz.

Her shoulders dropped.

A little over ten minutes left.

Each heartbeat in her chest hit like a fist—fast and insistent. “Leo?—”

Static crackled through her earpiece.

Abe’s voice cut through, clipped and urgent. “Leo? Status report.”

“Security’s down.” Leo took the tablet from her, his mouth little more than a dark line. “Countdown’s still live—we can’t over-ride it from here.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Fox drawled onto the comms, bone-dry. “But I’ve got you covered. Charges are now primed across the foundation grid.”

Kat moved to the door, gun steady. The corridor was miraculously clear. “Talk to us, Fox. How long do we have?”

“ Everything comes down in seven minutes.”

Seven.

Her insides dropped like they’d been cut free.

She flung a look at Leo, cold sweat across her nape. “It took us ten minutes to get here.” They’d been going slow, but still…

His nod was razor-sharp. “Confirm timeline, Fox.”

“Failsafe triggered when we breached the mainframe. You’ve got seven minutes before this place becomes a crater. Don’t waste them.”

Leo checked his watch. “All teams sync on my mark—seven minutes, starting—now.”

Kat glanced at her wrist. “Synced.”

“Copy,” Abe’s voice was crisp. “Exfil via west stairwell. Extract all civilians. Rendezvous at main entrance.”

“No sightseeing tours,” Fox added. “Move.”

“Kat. We need to go.” Leo scooped his discarded weapons from the floor. His knuckles skimmed her upper arm. I’m right here. A flash of warmth through the cold fear.

“Wait.” She pivoted back to the bank of servers. “We’re about to blow the only thing that clears me. Their research proves I’m not the traitor. If it goes, so does my name.”

His eyes were dark flints. “If we stay, I lose you, and that’s not happening.”

She palmed his hand. “That’s not happening. Trust me.”

A flicker crossed his face—fear and something fiercer. He nodded once. His hold softened. “Hurry.”

With a nod, she holstered her gun and circled the drives, running her fingers over the smooth rear interface to locate an access panel. Metal bit her skin and a sharp screw carved flesh from her finger.

“Shit.” She brought the bleeding finger to her lips, tasting salt and blood.

Sweat stung her eyes as she tried again. This is a mistake. “I don’t have the tools for this.” Shitshitshit ? —

“Kat.” Leo crouched over Korolov’s unconscious body, rifling through his pockets with speed. “Hey.” He flashed a compact tablet at her, then tucked it inside his tactical vest for safekeeping. “We’re golden.”

“You don’t understand what you’re taking!” Eldridge lunged at him from the floor.

Leo swung to face her. “It stops here, Eldridge.” He pivoted and grabbed Kat’s elbow. “We’re leaving. Now. ”

Eldridge slumped against the wall beside her overturned wheelchair. Crimson strobes washed over her like blood. “I gave them everything.” Her voice was a chalk-dry whisper. “My mind. My whole damn life.”

Kat stepped closer, careful. Up close, Eldridge’s eyes were glassy. “You don’t have to die here. Come with us. We can still?—”

“Still what?” Eldridge snapped, eyes flaring as she cut Kat a glance sharp enough to wound. “Clear your name? Walk out a hero while I rot under the rubble?”

Kat flinched. “That’s not?—”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Eldridge snarled. “I knew what this was from the start. I just thought if I bled enough for them, maybe I’d matter.”

“Kat,” Leo warned. “We’ve got six and change.”

Kat crouched beside Eldridge, her veins burning with urgency. “We don’t have time for this. You can still choose something else.”

Eldridge laughed—a low, guttural sound devoid of joy.

“There is nothing else. The world out there doesn’t want me.

Never did. At least this way, I don’t have to watch it spit me out again.

” Her hands fisted in her lap, knuckles bone-white.

“Get out while you can, Kat. Some of us don’t get clean exits. ”

Kat searched Eldridge’s eyes, throat tight, willing her to show something—remorse, hope. Anything . But there was only fire and ruin.

Despite everything Eldridge had put her through, she still wanted a different ending. But the one that mattered was standing beside her.

Let her go. She’s made her choice.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Eldridge didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at her. Her mouth was pinched, her eyes shut on the world.

Leo’s hand wrapped around Kat’s arm. His grip wasn’t just urgency. It was an anchor. “We move. Now. ”

She followed him with heavy steps into the corridor.

A familiar English accent blared through the facility’s speakers. “This building will self-destruct in T minus six minutes.” The voice cut out, and an alarm shrieked to life.

Leo’s mouth twitched as he glanced over his shoulder. “Fox.”

Doors exploded open along the hall. Researchers spilled out, white coats flaring like panic flags. Leo’s grip on her hand steered her through the human tide.

He kicked open every door they passed, giving each room a rapid sweep. No civilians left behind to die in the coming explosion.

A middle-aged woman in a lab coat stumbled, her ankle folding beneath her.

Kat caught her arm, hauling her upright.

“Hurry,” Kat urged, pressing between the woman’s shoulder blades so the researcher re-joined the fleeing mass, heady with the sharp stink of fear.

Lights above them flickered faster as if connected to Fox’s countdown.

Ahead, the corridor split and the crowd surged right.

Screams erupted from the front and people scattered like startled birds, revealing a lone figure blocking their path.

Kat’s pulse skyrocketed.

One of the guards they’d restrained earlier stood twenty feet away. His stance was wide, service weapon up. Young, blood streaking his wrists where the zip-ties had cut.

The rookie she’d taken down with a shoulder throw.

“Stop!” He shouted, voice shaking. “Drop your weapons!”

His earpiece dangled uselessly over his shoulder, wire frayed—severed during the earlier fight. No comms. No backup. Just him.

Shit.

She twisted her wrist to check her watch. Five minutes. Not enough.

She raised her hands slowly, meeting his wild eyes. “We don’t have time?—”

“On the ground!” Safety clicked off. His hands trembled, the muzzle bobbing. Fear warred with duty on his face.

Kat kneeled, set her Glock down, her shirt clinging damp to her back. Leo followed suit.

“Cuffs,” the rookie barked and flung cuffs at her feet. “Lock yourselves together. Now. One wrist each.”

He wasn’t thinking. He was drowning. Protocol was all he had left.

The last of the stragglers sprinted past without a single backward glance.

A chill crawled down her back, her body already bracing for the blast.

She raised open palms. “Listen, we’ve got less than five minutes before?—”

“Do it!” His hands shook violently but his finger remained on the trigger.

She was too far away. If she moved now, he’d shoot.

Leo exploded forward.

Time slowed, sound dropping into a distant hum.

There was only the gun.

Crack!

Muzzle flash painted the hallway white, and both men hit the floor.