The heavy steel door shuddered as a barrage of high-caliber bullets struck it from the outside, but the reinforced titanium held firm. Inside the panic room, the air was thick, suffocatingly hot, and smelled sharply of cordite, sweat, and copper blood.

I stood backed against the cold metal wall, m

The red emergency lights pulsed in rhythm with my racing heart. The heavy, metallic smell of blood from the firefight outside mingled with the sharp, terrifying scent of heated metal in Silas's hand.

"The door, or the brand," Silas repeated, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that settled deep in

Vespera spat a mouthful of blood onto the steel floor of the panic room, right beside Silas's polished shoes. She slowly lifted her head, her eyes burning with a venomous hatred that seemed to lower the temperature in the room.

"Go to hell, Silas," Vespera hissed, her voice raspy but entirely unre