Chapter 14 · The Face They Borrowed

The gunfire chased them through the archive door.

Seren hit the subway stairs hard enough to jar her wounded ribs. Ian grabbed the back of her jacket and kept her from falling headfirst into the dark.

“Let go.”

“Sure. You want to break your neck too?”

“I said let go.”

“And I heard you.”

A drone slammed into the wall above them. Metal shrieked. Blue rounds chewed through the concrete where Seren’s head had been half a second earlier.

Ian dragged her down another flight.

Nora stumbled after them, one hand pressed to the cut along her forehead. Blood ran between her fingers and dripped onto the steps.

“Anyone want to explain why the building has a subway?” Nora asked.

“Civic emergency route,” Ian said.

“Of course it does.”

Seren reached the bottom and shoved Ian’s hand away. The old platform stretched beneath the city, half flooded and lit by red strips along the walls. Water covered the tracks. It moved in slow waves, carrying scraps of paper, dead phones, and one yellow child’s sneaker.

The tide had gotten into the subway again.

The city called it a maintenance issue.