Chapter 22 · The Woman in the Server Room

"Don't come down here."

Iris's voice crackles through the stairwell speaker, tight and raw. I'm already on Floor Eleven, Noah two steps behind me, and the server room door is one flight below.

"Too late," I say.

"Cade, I mean it. Stay up there."

"Not happening."

Noah shoves past me on the landing, takes the stairs three at a time. I follow. The stairwell lights flicker. My wrist burns—six loops left, the number etched into my skin like a brand that won't heal.

"You don't understand," Iris says. "If you come down here, he wins."

"He already won," Noah calls up to the nearest camera. "The second you hid in my server room."

We hit Floor Twelve. The door's propped open with a fire extinguisher. Noah kicks it aside and we're through.

The server room spreads out in front of us, rows of black racks humming under cold LED strips. Iris is at the far end, crouched behind a terminal, one hand pressed to her side. Blood's soaking through her jacket.

"Jesus," I say, and I'm moving before I finish the word.

"Stop." She holds up her other hand. "Just stop."

I stop. Ten feet between us.