Chapter Seven
No Clean Exit

Cole moved first.

“Away from the door,” he said, voice low and sharp.

June and I stepped back toward the far wall. Cole positioned himself where he could see both the main entrance and the side window. The engine sound outside stopped. A car door opened, then another.

I felt the mark on my forehead heat up.

“They’re close enough to feel me,” I said.

Cole nodded once. “Then we don’t give them time to surround the building.”

He pointed to a narrow rear exit half hidden behind a stack of old shelves. “That leads to a service lane. We take it. Quiet and fast.”

June’s face was tight, but she nodded.

Cole went first, cracked the rear door, and checked the lane. He signaled us forward. We slipped out into the narrow space between buildings. The air was colder here. Water dripped from a broken pipe overhead.

We had only moved a few meters when a voice called out from the street side of the building.

“We know you’re inside. Send the girl out and the others can walk.”

It was the same woman from the alley — Voss.

Cole didn’t answer. He kept us moving.

We reached the end of the service lane and turned into a wider delivery yard. For a second it looked clear. Then two figures stepped out from behind a parked truck, blocking the way forward.

Cole pushed me and June behind a low concrete wall.

“Stay down.”

One of the men raised a weapon. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Cole didn’t wait. He moved fast, closing the distance before the man could properly aim. The two of them crashed into the side of the truck. The second man turned toward us.

I grabbed a broken piece of metal piping from the ground and swung it as hard as I could at his knee. He shouted and staggered. June shoved an empty crate into his path, buying us a few seconds.

Cole finished with the first man and turned on the second. It was over quickly.

“Move,” he ordered.

We ran across the yard and through a gap in the fence. Behind us I heard Voss shouting orders. More footsteps followed.

Cole led us down a sloping path toward the river edge. The ground was uneven and wet. My lungs burned, but I kept pace. The mark throbbed with every step, like it was answering the people hunting me.

We reached a narrow underpass beneath an old rail bridge. Cole pulled us into the shadows and held up a hand.

We stopped, listening.

Footsteps passed above us on the street, then faded in the wrong direction.

June bent over, trying to catch her breath. “How many times can we keep doing this?”

“As many as it takes,” Cole said. His own breathing was controlled, but there was a cut on his forearm he hadn’t had before.

I reached for his arm without thinking. “You’re hurt.”

He glanced at the blood, then at my hand. “It’s shallow. Later.”

The way he looked at me lasted a second longer than it needed to. Something quiet and heavy passed between us before he turned his attention back to the path.

“There’s a maintenance tunnel that runs under the next block,” he said. “It will take us farther from their search grid. We use it.”

We followed him into the tunnel entrance, hidden behind a rusted gate. The air inside was damp and cold. Cole switched on a small flashlight, keeping the beam low.

As we walked, June spoke quietly beside me.

“He’s different with you.”

I didn’t pretend not to understand. “He’s trying to keep us alive.”

“It’s more than that,” she said. “He watches you like he’s already decided you’re his responsibility.”

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t ready to name whatever was building between Cole and me. All I knew was that when he told me he would pull me back from a vision, I believed him. That had not been true with anyone else in a long time.

The tunnel eventually opened into a wider underground junction. Cole stopped and checked a set of old service doors.

“We rest here for ten minutes,” he said. “No more. Then we keep moving north.”

I sat against the wall and wiped sweat and dried blood from my face. The mark still felt warm, but the sharp pull had eased slightly.

Cole crouched in front of me.

“You held steady during the run,” he said. “Even when the mark flared. That’s progress.”

“It still feels like it’s trying to open on its own.”

“It will keep trying. The closer we get to the blackout, the harder it will push.” He paused. “You’re not alone in this, Thea. You keep acting like you have to carry every part of it by yourself.”

I met his eyes. “I’ve been alone in the important ways for a long time.”

“I know.” His voice was quiet. “That doesn’t mean you stay that way.”

The words settled between us.

June cleared her throat softly from a few steps away, giving us a moment without fully leaving.

Cole stood and offered me his hand. I took it. His grip was firm and warm, steadying me as I rose.

“We need to keep moving,” he said. “They’re going to widen the search once they realize we slipped the yard.”

I nodded.

We started walking again through the dark tunnel, the three of us staying close. The sound of our footsteps echoed softly off the concrete.

After a few minutes Cole spoke without looking back.

“When we clear this section, I’ll teach you the next step. You’re ready for it.”

“What’s the next step?”

“Learning how to use the signal instead of only hiding it.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “If you’re going to survive what’s coming, you can’t stay on the defensive forever.”

I held his gaze in the low light.

“Then show me.”

Somewhere above us, the city continued like nothing was wrong.

But underground, with Cole walking ahead and the mark still alive on my skin, I could feel the real countdown moving faster.