Chapter 8 · Something Wearing Maya

"She's been below red line for six days."

Marcus doesn't look back. He's already three flights down, boots echoing on concrete that shouldn't exist. Rachel's got her gun out. I don't blame her. The walls are streaked with something dark that moves when I'm not looking.

"My scouts saw her enter through the old maintenance shaft," Marcus says. "Goes down alone. Comes up every seventy-two hours."

"For what?" Rachel's voice is tight.

Marcus stops at a steel door. "To remember she had a brother."

My stomach drops. The light in my palm flickers. I force it steady.

He pulls the door open. The hallway beyond is flooded ankle-deep. The water's black. Not dark—*black*. Like it's swallowing the light instead of reflecting it.

"Pump room. End of the hall." Marcus looks at me. "You go alone."

Rachel steps forward. "Not happening."

"She won't talk if you're there." His eyes stay on me. "She barely talks to my people. But she keeps saying his name."

I step into the water before Rachel can argue.

It's cold. *Colder* than it should be. My boots sink into something soft underneath. I don't look down.