⌐╦ᡁ᠊╾━
"Kill her," the guard says, sliding the metal panel. "Do it yourself and the boss will let you walk free. Refuse, and you die with her."
The words hang heavy in the air.
I don't answer. My wrists ache from the cuffs, skin raw. My throat burns with the taste of blood. Of course he'd make me do it- her father. The Syndicate's king.
He wants me to be his weapon again.
The guard smirks, stepping closer. "Execution's at dawn. Your last chance." Then the lock clicks, and I'm alone again.
For a moment the world is just the quiet sound of her breathing in the next cell.
Lila.
She doesn't know. She doesn't know I've been offered her life for mine.
I laugh, bitter. It hurts my ribs. He always said loyalty was everything. Now I know what he meant.
They think I'll do it. They think I'll break. I've been planning this since the moment they dragged me in.
I pace the room, counting under my breath- five steps to the door, three back to the wall, one to the vent where the bolts loosened days ago.
The junction box goes dark for five minutes every night- a maintenance glitch I watched for weeks. I've tested it every night, careful not to draw attention.
Tonight, it's ready.
It takes an hour- prying the vent open with the scrap of metal from my cuff, forcing my shoulders through the narrow shaft. My skin scrapes raw. The air tastes like rust and dust and desperation.
Below me, guards patrol the hallway. I take the long way to her cell, holding my breath until the footfall fades, then drop silently to the ground.
Every step toward her feels like a countdown.
When I reach it, I see her through the reinforced glass- curled on the floor, hair tangled, lips moving as if she's whispering to herself. Maybe my name. Maybe just trying to stay sane.
I press my palm to the glass. She looks up. Her eyes widen.
For a heartbeat it feels like the world stops.
Then an alarm blares.
It shatters the silence. Red lights wash the corridor. Voices bark orders. Someone saw me.
I reach for the lock, but a jolt runs through my hand- it's electrified. It's impossible to open without the master key.
"Dante!" she screams, pounding the glass.
"I'll come back!" I yell, slamming the frame with my fist. "I swear, Lila, I'll-"
The corridor floods with guards. I have seconds.
I force myself to run.
Every instinct screams to go back, to drag her out, to die trying if I have to- but that's exactly what they want.
So I run. Through gunfire, smoke, chaos. Down service tunnels, through drains, until the compound is a smudge of light behind me.
When I finally collapse outside, under a sky that doesn't smell of metal and blood, I can still hear her voice.
"Dante-"
The word won't stop echoing.
I press my hand to my chest, trying to breathe, but guilt weighs heavier than air.
I made it out.
She didn't.
And for the first time, freedom doesn't feel right.
Somewhere back there, Lila is still alive and trapped.
And the man who took everything from her- the man who built the Syndicate, who controlled my whole life- is her father.