Knowledge returned to Emilia sluggishly, her senses muddled. A pounding headache assaulted her cranium as reality came into focus. She was in a dimly lit cell, walls of cold untreated concrete stretching up and out of view. No windows, only a heavy essence door. fear surged until rational study reasserted itself — she demanded clarity if she hoped to get out of this situation alive. Memories swamped back — the extension, the fortified interferers, Sterling's anguished cry as darkness claimed her. Was he alive? Had they been captured by the same mysterious forces manipulating charitable finances from the murk? Rising unsteadily, Emilia searched for any means of escape. The door was solid sword, bolted from the outside. As her eyes acclimated, she realized she was n't alone — a crumpled figure lay unconscious in the corner. " Sterling?" she called hoarsely, rushing over. Blood crusted the side of his face, but he breathed. Gently shaking his shoulder, she fought to control her racing studies. Focus. fear wo n't save you now. After an agonizing nanosecond, Sterling's eyes fluttered open. Seeing Emilia, he bolted upright with a launch." Where — what happed?" snappily relating the attack, Emilia tried to ignore the dizzying questions whirling through her mind. Who had captured them? What did they want? And how could they conceivably get out of this terrible situation alive? She helped Sterling lean against the wall, assessing his injuries as stylish she could in the dim light. A knot was rising on his tabernacle but it sounded the bleeding had braked. His pale blue eyes goggled into the distance, visited." I stressed this day would come.but not like this. Not with you caught in the crossfire." Gently, Emilia cupped his impertinence, forcing his haunted aspect
to meet hers." We will get through this. Tell me what you know there must be a way out." In that grim cell, with the trouble of unseen demons lurking beyond the door, Sterling knew he could conceal the verity no longer. The story he told would change everything, maybe placing their lives in indeed graver peril. But for now, it was their only armament in the fight for survival. " My real name is Alexander Black," Sterling began, his eyes grim with secrets held too long." I was formerly entangled in a network of culprits involved in plutocrat laundering, arms dealing, and worse. But I wanted out." Emilia heeded hardly as he reported his sweats to leave that dark world before. How he would cooperated with authorities, erecting a new identity as Sterling. But one man still clung to the old ties-felonious architect Maxwell Donovan. " Donovan noway forgave my treason. He is spent times trying to draw me back by," Sterling said." I sweat uncovering the deceptions at my charity was the last straw. Donovan wants vengeance." His voice traced off ominously. further questions swirled in Emilia's mind. How deep did Donovan's influence run? Could they find abettors , or were there eyes and cognizance on every wall? As if reading her studies, Sterling said grimly," Donovan has people far and wide. We can trust no bone
." A grinding cinch shattered the portentous silence. Heavy steps approached as Sterling and Emilia climbed to their bases. When the door swung open to reveal an fortified guard, Sterling stepped forward bravely." What does your master want from us?" The sniggering reply transferred a bite through Emilia's modes." The master wants to remind you who is really in charge. You are coming with me." As the guard moved to snare Sterling's arm, Emilia replied on instinct. Launching a broad kick, she relieved the guard of his rifle before cascading him in an armlock. " Run!" she cried to Sterling, floundering to subdue the larger man. With grim determination, he pried the keys from the guard's belt before crashing the rifle stock against his tabernacle, knocking him out cold wave. As admonitions blazoned in the distance, their race for freedom had begun. But the troubles had only just surfaced from the murk. Sterling and Emilia contended through the narrow corridors, keys in hand. The artificial complex sounded vacated save for the wailing admonitions. " This way," Sterling whizzed, pulling her around a corner. They dived to a halt before a heavy essence door. As he fumbled with the keys, Emilia scrutinized for hunters, heart pounding. Eventually, the cinch clicked open. Harsh sun dazed them after the dusk. They set up themselves on a vacated lading wharf at the reverse of the structure. storages stretched as far as the eye could see. " Donovan's operations are bigger than I imagined," Sterling muttered." We need transport, munitions, a plan." As if on cue, the distant buzz of an machine sounded. A noncommittal SUV rolled up, window sliding down to reveal a grim- faced man at the wheel." Get in. Now!" Sterling dithered, instincts on high alert after times living in the murk. But the motorist met his eyes exactly." I am Xavier. We do not have time for explanations. Trust me or die then." swapping a wordless look, they hopped into the vehicle. Xavier plugged the machine, shelling down just as fortified men poured from the complex doors." Hang on!" Weaving consummately through business, Xavier demanded calmly," Arm yourselves. In the glove box." Sterling cracked it open to find an array of automatic munitions." You are going to need these where we are headed." Emilia accepted a gun with steady hands, aspect
fixed on the maze of structure rushing by. Wherever Xavier led, it sounded their fight had only just begun. And Maxwell Donovan was n't a man who lost fluently. Emilia kept alert as Xavier wove through the sprawling artificial area." Who are you? How do we know we can trust you?" A ghost of a smile touched Xavier's lips." Let's just say I've my own score to settle with Donovan. I have been watching for a chance to bring him down." His eyes met Sterling's in the rearview." We all want the same thing." An uneasy armistice was formed in that moment, bound by necessity. As altitudinous halls rose in the distance, Xavier said," Nearly there. Brace yourselves." He veered into a decrepit storehouse quarter, pulling into a putatively abandoned structure. Outside, a high- tech surveillance mecca buzzed with exertion. Fortified men covered defenses mapping Donovan's vast network. A grizzled man with a politic eye saluted them." Xavier. I see you set up our missing pieces." His flinty aspect
assessed Sterling and Emilia." Names Jack. We have been working angles to take Donovan down for good." As stopgap burned that they were not alone, a screech of tires outside transferred them flying for cover." Company!" Jack barked. Through the slatted windows, over a dozen vehicles swarmed into view. " Donovan must have trackers on us," Xavier snarled, readying his rifle." We hold our ground. No bone
gets left behind moment." Gunfire erupted as fortified men charged the storehouse. Sterling and Emilia stood shoulder to shoulder, munitions firing with calm perfection amid the chaos. But would their chops and new abettors be enough? As the first surge crashed inward, the fight to survive had begun in humorless. The battle raged with gunfire and explosions as Sterling, Emilia, Xavier, and Jack fought off surge after surge of Donovan's men. They worked seamlessly as a unit, covering eyeless spots and reloading under fire. But Donovan's forces were grim. For every man who fell, two further sounded to take his place. Sterling took a graze to the arm, grinding his teeth against the pain as he continued laying down fire. Emilia held her own, channelizing all her fear and rage into each precise shot. Still, the adversary pushed closer, piercing the storehouse border. She and Xavier fought back to back, their security abating fleetly. " We need to fall back!" Jack bellowed over the noise." Xavier, cover us!" They began an orderly retreat, holding the line as others pulled back section by section. But as Emilia ducked to change magazines, her worst fear materialized- a hulking figure dived from the murk, seizing her in a chokehold. " nothing move or she dies!" Donovan snarled, pressing a cutter to Emilia's throat. Her musketeers set, ordnance trained yet unfit to fire without venturing her. Donovan beamed spitefully." This is what happens when you betray me, Black." Sterling met Emilia's stalwart aspect
, helpless rage coursing through him. They were out of moves, out of chances, with Donovan now holding all the cards. As the villain dragged Emilia backwards into the murk, she cried," Go, while you still can!" But leaving her was n't an option. As Donovan's dark horselaugh echoed, Sterling made a choice that would alter all their fates. With a bellow of pure defiance, he charged into the darkness after them alone.