Chapter 22 · This is the only way

She shoved him forward again, her boots splashing through a puddle of iridescent chemical runoff. They reached the end of the alley, where a rusted ventilation shaft offered a precarious climb.

"This is the only way," she told him, though he couldn't answer. "The main tunnels are crawled with Silas's hounds. If we can hit the service ducts, we can bypass the inner perimeter."

She spent the next twenty minutes hoisting him up the ladder, a process that involved a lot of cursing and a few accidental elbows to the ribs. By the time they reached the top, Lila was drenched in sweat, her lungs burning.

She collapsed against the metal grating of the duct, gasping for air. Cain stood beside her, motionless, his presence a heavy, silent shadow.

"You... owe me... so much... for this," she panted, looking up at him.

She reached out to check the lock on his neck port, but as her hand touched him, a loud, metallic *clack* echoed through the shaft.

Lila jumped, her heart hammering against her ribs. "What the hell was that?"

From the darkness of the duct, a voice drifted toward them—