Flames swallowed the room. Smoke poured through the hallway. The blast had knocked Aarav back, his ears ringing and vision blurred. His body screamed in pain, but somehow, his hand was still clutching the girl's wrist.
The fire alarms didn't work.
Sprinklers didn't activate.
This wasn't an accident.
He yanked her free from the chair, grabbed a fire blanket from the wall, and wrapped it around them both. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Aarav crashed through the burning doorway and sprinted toward the emergency exit.
The stairwell was melting.
"I can't carry you both," he said.
She looked up weakly. "Then leave me."
"Shut up."
He hoisted her over his shoulder and charged down the stairs. His lungs burned. His jacket caught fire briefly, but he didn't stop. At the third floor, he smashed through a window and onto a service ladder.
Three floors down. One step at a time. Metal groaned beneath him.
Just as they reached the alleyway, a helicopter's spotlight bathed them in white.
> "TARGET SECURED. DROP NOW."
Aarav looked up. Soldiers in black armor fast-roped from the chopper. Elite units. Not local police.
He set the girl down behind a dumpster and stood up.
"By order of Central Enforcement, surrender the subject," one of them shouted.
Aarav raised his hands. "You set the explosion. You tried to kill her."
"No," the soldier said. "We tried to kill you."
Without warning, the soldiers opened fire.
Aarav dove behind the dumpster, bullets pinging off metal and concrete. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small black case. Inside—three darts, one smoke bomb, and a stun knife.
Not much.
But enough.
He activated the smoke, slammed the ground, and rolled out from cover. He threw two darts—one missed, one hit. The soldier dropped. He slashed at the second with the stun knife, sending volts into his armor. Sparks flew. The man collapsed.
Two more came from above.
Aarav grabbed the girl, ran down the alley, and vanished into the sewer entrance behind the trash heap.
Dark. Wet. Silent.
Only the dripping of water and the sound of his own breathing.
The girl coughed. "Why did you come back for me?"
"I didn't," Aarav said, catching his breath. "I came to deliver a bomb. You were supposed to be dead."
She stared at him. "I'm not."
Aarav narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
She hesitated. Then said:
> "My name is Sia. And they're hunting me because I remember something they buried."
Aarav sat back.
Because deep inside, something about her words shook a piece of him loose—something he didn't know he'd forgotten.