The silence in the grand archive stretched thin and brittle. Basra held his breath, staring into the dark grain of the wood beneath the desk.Just inches from his right boot lay an iron key. It rested half-hidden beneath the frayed edge of an expensive wool rug.The auditor sighed heavily in the center of the room. A match scraped against stone, flaring with a sharp, sulfurous smell.Soft yellow light bloomed across the polished floorboards. The auditor was lighting a desk lamp near the far window.Basra shifted his weight very slowly. The floorboards beneath his knees gave a terrifying, muted creak.Levi’s hand shot out instantly. The soldier clamped his palm over Basra’s wrist, pinning him in place with absolute authority.They waited through three agonizing heartbeats. The auditor didn't react, only rustling a fresh set of papers across the room.Basra looked down at the iron key again. It was the only way into the Duke’s restricted wall compartment.He needed that key to find the

The small iron key burned cold against Basra's thigh. He kept his shoulder pressed tight against Levi’s solid, unyielding form beneath the heavy mahogany desk.Across the vast, echoing archive room, the scratching quill resumed its steady work. The auditor was completely unaware of the two intruders hiding mere feet away.Basra wanted to crawl backward toward the shadow of the rear shelves. He wanted to put distance between themselves and the desk lamp's harsh yellow glow.Before he could shift his weight, an erratic flash tore across his vision. It was not a shadow cast by the lamp, nor was it a trick of the dim archive light.Bright amber glyphs fractured across his retinas. They danced across his field of view like jagged, burning sparks of falling metal.A sharp, synthetic whine pierced the silence inside his skull. The sound vibrated behind his eyes with the frequency of a trapped hornet.Basra squeezed his eyes shut to block out the blinding glare. His breath hitched in his thro

The heavy oak door of the archive room clicked shut with a sharp, final mechanical sound. The lock turned from the outside with a heavy, echoing thud.Basra scrambled backward from beneath the desk. His boots slipped slightly against the dusty floorboards in his haste.Levi rose to his feet in a single, fluid motion. The soldier’s eyes scanned the high, shadowy corners of the vast room.A faint hiss began to emanate from the bronze vents near the ceiling. Wisps of heavy, grey-black vapor drifted lazily down into the warm air.The coal gas smelled sickeningly sweet and terribly sharp. It burned the back of Basra's throat instantly as he took a shallow breath.The trap had sprung with terrifying precision. They were locked inside a sealed vault filling rapidly with toxic poison.Levi crossed the room in long, silent strides. His heavy boots barely made a sound against the polished wood.He reached the heavy mahogany desk and kicked it aside. The desk slid violently across the floor, cra

The rain-soaked turf rushed up to meet them with the force of a physical blow. Basra hit the muddy ground of the rose garden and immediately tucked his shoulder.His bruised ribs flared with white-hot agony as he rolled through the mud. Thorn-heavy rose stems whipped across his face, tearing shallow lines into his skin.He came to a shuddering halt against the thick base of a stone fountain. Mud soaked instantly through his canvas jacket, freezing his skin to the bone.Levi landed barely a yard away with a heavy, muted thud. The soldier dropped into a low crouch, his eyes darting through the swirling evening fog.Get up, Levi hissed, his voice cutting through the patter of rain. We don't have time to bleed.Basra forced his trembling legs to push him upright. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest against the sudden, violent exertion.A sharp, metallic clatter echoed from the upper balcony above them. Shouts rang out through the mist, urgent and sharp as breaking ice.They’ve sp

The rain fell harder, turning the courtyard paths into slick ribbons of mud. Every breath tasted of wet earth and copper, and lightning flickered somewhere beyond the palace rooftops, throwing brief, jagged shadows across the hedges.Basra scrambled after Levi through the tangle of thorns, his sleeve catching and tearing on a bramble. Their boots tore up the turf with every desperate stride, each footfall sending up a spray of muddy water.The baying of the hounds grew louder behind them, joined now by shouted orders and the clatter of steel. The distance between the hunters and the hunted was closing fast."They have our scent locked," Basra panted, his chest heaving painfully with every breath. "We won't outrun them across these open lawns.""We aren't running across the lawn," Levi shot back over his shoulder, not slowing his pace. "Keep your head down and move."The soldier veered sharply toward the high stone perimeter wall, cutting through a stand of dripping rosebushes that cla