Chapter 10 · The Sealed Level

"Don't shoot!" Lucas slammed my wrist into the stone floor as the empty gun clicked between us.

"You said it was loaded!" I snapped.

"I said it looked loaded. Get down."

The tribunal doors blew inward.

Men in black execution coats stormed through the smoke, rifles raised. Red emergency lights strobed across the judges' benches and the bloodstained floor.

"Your people are here," I hissed.

Lucas twisted my arm behind my back. His chest hit my shoulder, hot and solid. "Keep your head down."

"Get your hand off me."

"Gladly. Right after you stop trying to kill me."

A rifle cracked above us.

Stone exploded beside my cheek.

Lucas dragged me behind the old judge's bench and dropped over me. For half a second, his body covered mine. His breath brushed my ear. His rough collar scraped my jaw, and the weapon strapped beneath his arm pressed into my ribs.

Then he pulled back.

"Move."

"Where?"

"Below."

"The tunnels?"

His eyes cut toward the executioners. "You wanted the playback terminal. That's where it is."

Another bullet punched through the bench.