Chapter 25 · Mom Left a Back Door

"Move!" Vera's hand clamps around my arm as glass bursts over the ledge behind us.

She hauls me onto the narrow strip of concrete. Three feet from a twenty-story drop, with security boots pounding toward the broken window.

"You said jump," I gasp. "You didn't say where we'd land."

"Fire escape. Left."

Wind tears at my clothes. Vera presses the hard drive to her chest while blood runs from her cut forearm. She doesn't even glance at it.

Alpha hums inside me. "Structural integrity acceptable. Pursuit probability: ninety-four percent."

"Yeah, I hear them."

Richard's voice carries through the shattered window. Calm. Controlled.

"Don't shoot," he tells his men. "Vera's still useful alive."

Vera's jaw tightens. "Keep moving."

She steps onto the rusted fire escape. I follow, gripping the rail until it bites into my palm.

"How far down?"

"All of it."

"Great."

"You wanted out of Dad's tower."

"I wanted an elevator."

"Should've planned better."

She takes the stairs three at a time. I force my legs to match her. Alpha keeps my heart beating in its new mechanical rhythm—