The Vault Heist

Trapped in Flames

Smoke fills the air, making it hard for me to breathe. The skyscraper's sixtieth floor is engulfed in flames and collapsing. The bomb's explosion is still echoing in my head, a reminder of the betrayal that has turned Crane's stronghold into a deadly trap. I'm taking cover behind a server rack, my ribs aching from a guard's punch, my gun warm in my hand. Marcus is lying nearby, his shoulder covered in blood, his eyes showing pain and a deeper fear—his PTSD surfacing as the fire gets closer. Lena is working at the console, her hair covered in ash, her tablet sparking as she tries to break into the building's systems. Evie is missing, her risky move in the stairwell having separated us. My heart is racing, not just from the heat but from Lena's scream earlier, her voice a sign of hope in this disaster. Dorian's message—"The vault is not what you think"—is stuck in my head, but right now, surviving is all that matters.

"Marcus, stay awake!" I yell, crawling towards him through the smoke. He struggles to breathe, his gun still in his hand, but his breaths are shallow, his face pale. "Bear, talk to me!"

"I'm here, Ghost," he says weakly, his hands shaking as he reloads. The fire is spreading, servers are sparking, and the ceiling is making noises like it's about to fall. Lena is typing quickly, her eyes focused despite the chaos. "I'm disabling the lockdown!" she shouts, her voice clear above the noise. "The sprinklers are stuck—someone is blocking us!"

"Dorian," I say angrily, my blood boiling. That traitor is playing us, always one step ahead. I shoot at a drone flying through the smoke, its laser hitting my arm, causing fresh pain. "Lena, get those sprinklers working!"

She nods, her lips tight, but her eyes look at me, and there's something real there—fear, trust, maybe more. The moment we shared in the mainframe room, her body close to mine, flashes through my mind, but I push it away. Marcus needs me. I grab his arm, pulling him towards the console, where Lena has made a temporary barrier out of fallen servers. Bullets hit metal—Crane's guards are getting closer, their shouts hard to hear over the fire.

"Evie, where are you?" I ask into the comms, dodging a falling piece of debris. Her voice comes back, too calm. "East stairwell, charming a guard. Give me a minute." Her flirtatious tone makes me angry—her recklessness got us into this, and now she's playing games?

"Hurry up," I say sharply, helping Marcus lean against the console. He's losing blood, his eyes unfocused, but he's fighting, firing his gun at shadows in the smoke. Lena's tablet beeps, and the sprinklers start to work, water spraying against the flames, but it's not enough—the fire is too strong, the air too hot.

"Got the mainframe!" Lena shouts, her device connecting with the vault's lock. "But the system is fighting back—someone is in our code!" Her voice shakes, and I know she's thinking about the traitor's trace from the warehouse. I feel uneasy—Evie? Marcus? Or someone else?

"Stay focused, Voss," I say, touching her shoulder. Her skin is warm, even through the ash, and she leans into my touch briefly, her eyes meeting mine. "We're getting out," I promise, but the words sound empty as another explosion shakes the floor, debris falling around us.

A guard breaks through the smoke, his gun raised, but before I can shoot, Evie is there, her hair down, her smile mischievous. "Hey, handsome," she says sweetly, moving close to the guard, her hand touching his arm. He hesitates, surprised, and she steals his radio, tossing it to me with a wink. "Told you I had it," she says, but Lena glares at her. Evie's charm saves us, but her timing is bad, and the tension between them is about to explode.

"Move!" I yell, pulling Marcus towards the stairwell, Lena following behind, her tablet in her hand. The sprinklers are slowing the fire, but the guards are persistent, their boots getting closer. I shoot randomly, my shots echoing, giving us time. Evie is ahead, her knife flashing as she takes down another guard, her movements skilled but reckless. She's showing off, and it's going to get us killed.

We reach the stairwell, smoke filling the air, the metal steps wet. Marcus stumbles, his weight heavy against me, and I clench my teeth, my ribs hurting. "Stay with me, Bear," I say, my voice strained. His eyes meet mine, and there's a hint of his old strength, but it's fading quickly.

Lena is hacking while moving, her tablet glowing as she disables the stairwell's lockdown. "Fifty-eighth floor is clear!" she says, but her voice breaks. "Jax, there's something in the mainframe data—a file, hidden. It's… a vault blueprint." My heart skips a beat. A blueprint? That's valuable, but Dorian's betrayal hangs over us—did he plant it?

We reach the fifty-eighth floor, the air cooler but still smoky. Lena's tablet beeps again, showing the blueprint—a detailed map of the vault's inner workings, its dual-lock system, its traps. "This is it," she says, her eyes wide. "We can break it with this."

But before I can answer, Marcus reaches out, grabbing the tablet. "Wait," he says