Chapter 137

Chapter 137

00:14:59

The gunshot echoed through the underground station.

For one suspended heartbeat

No one moved.

Then chaos erupted.

The Guardians opened fire.

Bullets tore through the platform, sending shards of concrete flying.

"Down!" Luca shouted.

Damon grabbed the little girl who had stood in front of the other children and threw himself behind a thick concrete pillar with her. Isabella rushed the rest of the children toward an overturned transport carriage.

The station exploded into noise.

Gunfire.

Screams.

Sirens.

The grinding roar of Ascension's machinery beneath the island.

A Guardian charged toward the children.

Before he could reach them

A knife buried itself in his shoulder.

Luca.

He moved like a shadow.

Fast.

Precise.

Every strike disarmed instead of killed.

A kick sent another Guardian crashing into a railing.

An elbow shattered another's grip on his rifle.

Damon noticed.

Luca wasn't trying to kill them.

Not unless he had no other choice.

These were victims too.

Children who had grown into weapons.

Just like he had.

The Shepherd watched silently.

His expression unreadable.

Then he moved.

His black blade flashed through the air.

Luca barely caught it with one of his knives.

Clang!

The impact echoed through the station.

Luca slid backward several feet.

Strong.

The Shepherd was incredibly strong.

"You've gotten slower," the Shepherd said calmly.

Luca smirked despite the situation.

"I've gotten picky."

Another clash.

Steel against steel.

The Shepherd attacked again.

And again.

Every strike was clean.

Perfect.

Emotionless.

Like watching a machine fight.

Luca gave ground, studying him.

Looking for an opening.

Looking for the boy hidden beneath the conditioning.

Meanwhile Damon helped another frightened child behind cover.

A little boy tugged on his sleeve.

"Mister..."

Damon looked down.

The child couldn't have been older than seven.

"...Are we going to die?"

The question stole the air from his lungs.

He knelt in front of the boy despite the bullets flying overhead.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

The boy searched his face.

"You promise?"

Damon thought of Elena.

Of Sophia.

Of every child Vale had stolen.

Then he nodded.

"I promise."

The boy slowly held out his tiny hand.

Damon took it.

A small, trembling grip wrapped around his fingers.

Trust.

Simple.

Complete.

It strengthened his resolve.

A deafening explosion rocked the station.

One of the overhead support beams cracked.

Chunks of concrete rained onto the tracks.

"The ceiling's coming down!" Isabella shouted.

"We have to move!"

Damon looked around frantically.

The train.

The abandoned transport train.

If they could get it running...

"Sophia said everything connects to the Core," he muttered.

Luca heard him even while blocking another strike.

"The train!"

Damon understood immediately.

It wasn't abandoned.

It was the transport line to the Core.

He sprinted toward the engine compartment.

A Guardian stepped into his path.

Before Damon could react

A gunshot rang out.

The Guardian's weapon flew from his hand.

Not the Guardian.

His weapon.

Damon looked toward the source.

Nova.

She stood at the far entrance of the station, smoke curling from the barrel of her pistol.

Behind her

Cassian.

Seraphine.

Mira.

Hale.

And nearly two hundred children.

Cassian grinned.

"Miss us?"

Relief washed through Damon.

"You found them."

"We found everyone we could."

Nova's expression darkened as she looked around.

"But we're running out of time."

Without waiting another second, Seraphine launched herself into the fight.

She hit the first Guardian with enough force to send him sprawling across the platform.

A second tried to attack from behind.

Cassian intercepted him with a metal pipe.

"I've always wanted to do that."

"No, you haven't," Hale replied while firing a stun round.

"...Okay, maybe since this morning."

Even in the middle of battle, Cassian somehow found time for sarcasm.

Mira hurried to the frightened children.

Checking injuries.

Calming panic.

Smiling gently despite the chaos.

The little girl Damon had rescued looked up at her.

"Are you a doctor?"

Mira smiled.

"I'm trying to be."

The girl smiled for the first time.

A tiny smile.

But real.

Damon reached the train controls.

He stared at the panel.

Rows of switches.

Security locks.

An electronic scanner.

"...Please work."

He inserted Sophia's access card.

The panel blinked.

ACCESS GRANTED

The engine rumbled to life.

Lights illuminated inside every carriage.

Hope surged through the station.

"It works!" Damon shouted.

Cheers erupted from the older children.

They looked hopeful.

Then Vale's voice echoed through the station.

"You continue to disappoint me."

The cheers died instantly.

Monitors flickered to life.

Vale appeared on every screen.

Elegant as always.

Perfectly composed.

Watching them.

"You insist on saving everyone."

She sounded genuinely puzzled.

"As though they're worth saving."

Damon stared directly into the nearest camera.

"They are."

Vale sighed.

"Elena said the same thing."

The mention of his mother no longer shook him.

Not anymore.

Because now he understood.

Vale had never loved Elena.

She had loved the idea of controlling her.

The realization gave him strength.

"You never understood her."

Vale's smile faltered.

Only slightly.

But Damon saw it.

"So that's your answer."

She tilted her head.

"Very well."

She pressed something out of view.

Immediately the station alarms changed.

A new warning echoed through the speakers.

CORE DEFENSE SYSTEM ACTIVATED

Heavy steel doors slammed shut around the station.

Escape routes sealed.

Turrets descended from the ceiling.

Automated weapons.

Luca looked up.

"Oh, that's unfair."

The Shepherd stepped backward.

Lowering his sword.

"Mother has spoken."

He wasn't retreating.

He was obeying.

The ceiling turrets rotated.

Every laser sight settled on the platform.

On Damon.

On Luca.

On Isabella.

On Nova's team.

On the children.

Hundreds of tiny red dots danced across frightened faces.

Vale's voice filled the station one final time.

"If you wish to reach me..."

A pause.

"...survive."

The transmission ended.

Silence.

Then every turret fired at once.