جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 77

pov: Ivy AdamsThe basement archives of the main library were dead silent on Tuesday evening. Rows of tall wooden bookshelves stretched into the dark corners of the room, smelling faintly of old paper, cardboard boxes, and dust. Up on the main floors, students were studying under bright lights, but down here behind the locked wire gate, nobody ever came unless they were digging through records from decades ago.I sat cross-legged on the cool floor tiles between two narrow aisles, three thick leather-bound ledgers open across my lap.Next to me, Leo sat with his back resting against the wooden shelf, the pale glow of his laptop screen illuminating his face in the dim amber light of the single desk lamp nearby. His long legs were stretched out on the floor, and his dark eyes were focused intently on his screen as he typed in his high-level student credentials."Are you sure your personal portal access won't trigger an automatic alert on your father's desktop?" I asked softly, keeping my

pov: ivy adamsThe sudden, loud sound of the archive door hinges creaking open cut right through the dead silence of the basement.Inside the narrow wooden aisle, Leo and I froze completely. Every muscle in my body went rigid, and my breath caught tight in my throat.Slow, deliberate footsteps echoed against the cool floor tiles outside our aisle, moving with a steady, unhurried rhythm that made my heart hammer wildly against my ribs.Leo didn't hesitate for a single microsecond. He instantly let go of my hand, shifted his body smoothly in front of mine, and stepped slightly to the side, placing himself directly between me and the open aisle entrance. His dark eyes narrowed into sharp, dangerous points as he locked his gaze onto the corner of the wooden bookshelf, waiting to see who was walking down into the restricted records room after hours.The footsteps drew closer. We could hear the soft scuff of sneaker rubber against the concrete floor, followed by the faint rustle of paper or

pov: ivy adams"It's locked tight," Leo said, his hand dropping away from the cold iron push-bar. He grabbed the thick chain wrapped around the door handles, tugging on it once to test the strength, but the industrial padlock didn't budge an inch.My chest tightened instantly. I stepped closer, staring at the thick links in disbelief. "Someone wrapped that chain around the handles from the outside. They knew we were coming this way.""Or they knew someone would try to use this service exit during the evening security sweep," Leo replied, his voice calm, steady, and entirely free of panic. He turned around, his dark eyes scanning the dark hallway behind us. "We can't force this door open without making enough noise to bring every guard in the building straight to our position.""So what do we do?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly as I looked down the long, dim corridor. "We can't go back up the main archive stairs because Mason said security units were heading down that way. And if

pov: ivy adamsThe cool blue light of dawn was fully shining through the high barred window of the storage annex when the sharp, ringing sound of keys cut through the morning silence.My eyes snapped open immediately. I was still sitting on the wooden bench, resting comfortably against Leo's shoulder, with his warm arm wrapped securely around my back. For a brief second, waking up like that made me forget where we were. Then the sound of heavy boots clanking against the concrete floor outside echoed down the corridor, followed by the clink of a padlock being unhooked."Someone is at the loading dock doors," I whispered, sitting up straight and blinking away the last traces of sleep."Morning shift," Leo murmured, his voice sounding deep and raspy as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and checked his watch. "It's right around six o'clock. The custodian is opening up the service bay."Outside in the hallway, the thick industrial chain rattled loudly against the double doors. We heard the