Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Elara and Kael escape the Cadmus Road facility after triggering motion sensors, evading a security vehicle on the industrial roads. They return to Declan's safe house where Yuki decodes Nina's transfer destination—a Collectors property called Harrow House. Kael reveals his brother was held there before dying during a transfer. Soren Marsh makes contact with a warning that Crane has accelerated operations and Liddell has been assigned to move Nina within forty-eight hours. Elara and Kael commit to intercepting the transfer, and in a charged quiet moment, Kael asks Elara to marry him.
We made it out through the maintenance corridor with forty seconds to spare. I know because I counted each one, marking time by the rhythm of my own heartbeat slamming against my ribs while Kael moved ahead of me through the dark, silent as a shadow wearing a body built for violence.
The night air hit like a slap—cold, fuel-heavy, carrying the faint chemical stink of the industrial district. I sucked it in anyway, greedy for anything that wasn't the antiseptic horror of Unit 9. Behind us, the facility's exterior lights cycled on in a slow wave, sensors waking in sequence. Kael grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the shadow of a rusted shipping container. We pressed flat against corroded metal, not breathing, not moving, while a security vehicle rounded the far end of the lot.
Headlights swept past. Held. Moved on.
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