Heat branded my skin as flames lapped up the walls, feeding on everything in their path. Dark serpents of smoke curled, crawling through cracks, stifling the air. I struggled after Damian through the billows, my head reeling as my lungs would burn with each breathing, my eardrums ringing from the explosion.
"We have to get out!" he shouted-a sharp blade sound through chaos.
I followed, my heart racing, as behind us the smoke filled with movement, figures armed to kill. Bullets whizzed through the air, slamming into walls, splintering wood, and sparking against metal.
"Down!" Damian pulled me behind a steel column as the firing continued, the deafening sound of gunfire.
The blast had turned the safe house into a war zone.
Who are they?" I gasped, pushing my back against the column as the heat grew.
"The Espositos," Damian growled, his gaze floating around the room, his mind calculating every angle. "Antonio's enemies. They found us sooner than I'd predicted."
Like a living beast, the fire roared with hunger and obstinacy. I felt its heat claw at my skin, threatening to consume both of them.
"Can we get out?" I asked, panic high in my voice.
"Not through the front," Damian said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a second gun, placing it firmly in my hands. "Stay close. Don't hesitate."
My fingers shook as I wrapped them around the gun, the cold weight of it unfamiliar and terrifying.
"I've never-"
"Now's a good time to start."
He launched himself into the fight, firing with deadly precision. I followed, my heart hammering as I moved through smoke and fire, my eyes darting for any sign of escape.
---
A figure loomed out of the shadows, his face obscured by a mask. His gun leveled at Damian's back.
"Look out!" I screamed, raising my weapon.
The gun was alive in my hand, all heavy and hazardous. I squeezed the trigger.
Recoil bucked through my arm as the bullet tore into the masked man's shoulder. He staggered back with a guttural groan, his gun clattering on the ground.
I just stared, my breath caught in my throat.
I hit him.
Damian didn't need any more provocation. With the swift grace of a predator, he pounced on the moment and went down with him in a display of brutally effective efficiency. A swift strike to the jaw sent him sprawling.
He turned to me now, his eyes dark with something I couldn't name. "Good shot."
I swallowed hard, heart still racing. "I didn't think… I wasn't sure I could…"
"You can," he said matter-of-factly. "You just did.
We pressed on, fire closing in around us. Every step was a wrestle against heat and smoke. My eyes blurred and my lungs were burning, but I pushed on.
"Here!" Damian kicked open a door, revealing steep narrow stairs. "Go!"
I didn't need telling twice. I ran, the sound of gunfire and yells ringing in my ears.
The stairs spiraled and twisted, leading deeper into darkness. Every step was a desperate bid for freedom as my heart racing downward.
The air was cooler at the bottom, but danger still lurked in the shadows.
"Where does this lead?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"An old escape tunnel," Damian said. "It's not safe, but it's our only shot."
The tunnel was narrow and dark, stretching out before us. The walls were damp, the air thick with the scent of earth and stone.
Damian moved ahead, his gun raised. Every muscle in his body coiled with tension, ready to strike.
I followed, my senses on high alert. Every sound, every flicker of movement felt like a threat.
"Stay close," he whispered.
Scarcely the words were out of his mouth when a figure launched from the darkness.
I reacted instinctively, raising my gun. The blast of the shot echoed through the tunnel, the flash of light illuminating the attacker's face for a split second before he fell.
I was staring at the body, my breath coming in ragged gasps, my hands shaking.
"You're learning," Damian muttered, his eyes flicking to me.
"I don't want to learn this," I whispered.
"Survival doesn't care what you want," he said.
---
We continued farther down the tunnel as the noise of pursuit became muffled behind us. But I knew this was far from over.
It never was.
"Why are they doing this?" I asked, my voice raw. "Why do they want me so badly?"
Damian didn't answer right away. His silence was heavy, loaded with secrets.
"It's not about Antonio," he said finally. "It's about power. Leverage. You're a key to something bigger."
I fisted my hands. Anger simmered, pushing aside some of my fear. "I'm tired of being a key. A pawn. I want to know the truth."
He regarded me again, his eyes inscrutable. "Truth is dangerous, Elena."
"So am I," was my reply.
The tunnel opened into an abandoned subway station; the tracks were rusted, the weeds sprouting between them. Dim light filtering through cracks in the concrete ceiling made for macabre shadows.
Damian scanned the space, his gun firm. "We're not alone."
My heart raced on.
"Stay behind me."
A noise-light, barely audible-came from the far corner.
"Who's there?" Damian called out, his voice like a whip.
A figure stepped into the light.
I caught my breath.
"Antonio."
---
Bleeding yet standing, his eyes black as coal, with one thing even more dangerous: triumph.
"You really didn't think that it was going to be that easy now, did you?