Chapter 33- Start Running

The door to Professor Rivers’s office creaked open just enough for Sonia to slip inside.

The room was dark except for a single desk lamp casting its glow over a stack of papers and half-empty coffee mugs.

She moved carefully, her eyes darting to every shadow. The scent of old leather and bitter coffee clung to the air.

She’d learned to step silently. Silas had taught her that, how to move like a ghost. But tonight, her heart beat too loudly. Every creak in the wood seemed to echo in her bones.

Her fingers trembled as she flipped through the scattered documents on Rivers’s desk. Most were harmless—schedules, rosters, fencing match reports—but beneath the mess, she found something different. A thick file with the name Lazarus stamped in red. She felt a shiver crawl down her spine as she slid it out, flipping it open.

Photos. Maps. Names she didn’t recognize. A ledger filled with cryptic transactions and handwritten notes. A chill settled in her chest. Whoever Lazarus was or whatever it meant, Daxton was its heart. And Rivers knew it.

Footsteps sounded behind her. She spun, the file clutched to her chest, her pulse thrumming in her ears.

“You’re not as stealthy as you think, Vale,” Rivers’s voice drawled. He emerged from the shadows, his posture easy, but his eyes sharp and unyielding.

She swallowed, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “I needed answers,” she said, voice steadier than she felt.

He tilted his head, studying her like he could peel away every layer she’d so carefully built. “You always do,” he replied. “But answers come with prices, Sonia. Are you sure you’re ready to pay them?”

She didn’t flinch. “I’m not leaving until I know the truth.”

Rivers stepped closer, his scent—a mix of cedar and cold air—filling the space between them. He held her gaze with a quiet intensity that made her chest tighten. “You’ve already risked too much,” he murmured, his voice softer now. “You’ve walked too many lines. But this—” He gestured at the file. “—this is a battlefield you might not come back from.”

Sonia drew a trembling breath. “Then let me decide which battles are worth fighting.”

A smile flickered at the corner of Rivers’s mouth, sad, resigned. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead, his touch unexpectedly gentle. “You remind me of someone I once knew,” he said quietly. “She fought until her heart broke—and then she fought even harder.”

Sonia felt heat rising to her cheeks. “Who was she?”

Rivers’s eyes darkened, the smile fading. “Someone who believed she could change the world. She almost did. And she died for it.”

The room fell silent, the air thick with unspoken things. Sonia’s hand tightened on the file. “I’m not afraid to die,” she whispered. “But I won’t let them take Eric or Silas or you.”

Rivers exhaled, his expression unreadable. “Then you’d better start running, Sonia Vale,” he said, his voice sharp again. “Because the moment you took that file, you put yourself on the Cartel’s map. And now...” He stepped back, his gaze flicking to the shadows beyond the window. “they’re coming for all of us.”

Before she could reply, the sound of hurried footsteps in the corridor made them both tense. Rivers moved fast, crossing to the bookshelf and pressing a hidden panel. The wall slid open to reveal a narrow passage.

“Go,” he hissed. “And don’t look back. I’ll cover you.”

She hesitated, her heart hammering. “What about you?”

He smiled faintly, a glint of steel in his eyes. “I’m harder to kill than I look.”

With that, Sonia ducked into the passage, clutching the file to her chest. Darkness swallowed her, the air damp and cold. Every step echoed like a secret. She tried to focus, tried to breathe. Eric’s face flashed in her mind. Silas’s. She had to survive for them.

The passage twisted and turned, leading her deeper into Daxton’s hidden belly. She thought of the Cartel’s symbols, of the masks they wore and the blood they’d spilled. She thought of Eric’s kiss in the storm, the way his touch had made her feel like maybe she wasn’t just pretending to be strong.

A door appeared ahead, old and iron-bound. She pushed it open, emerging into a cavernous hall beneath the academy. Ancient stone walls rose around her like the bones of some long-dead giant. The air smelled of dust and memory.

She could still hear Rivers’s voice: You’d better start running.

She started to run.

As the echoes of her footsteps faded, a thought struck her sharp, bright, and alive, they thought Silas was dead.

They had no idea how wrong they were.