Chapter 44: Fractured Trust

The tunnel stretched before them, a narrow, oppressive passageway that seemed to go on forever. 

Emily could feel the cool, damp air against her skin as she moved deeper into the bowels of the safehouse, her footsteps echoing softly in the silence. 

Her heart raced with every step, a gnawing sense of urgency clawing at her chest.

She had sent Damien, Grant, and Alaric ahead. They needed to get to the rendezvous point while she held off whatever forces the Council had sent after them. 

She couldn't afford to be caught now—not after everything they had uncovered. 

The information on the chip was too important, too dangerous to let fall into the wrong hands.

Her hand instinctively went to the weapon holstered at her side, the cold steel reassuring in her grip. 

The tunnel walls were lined with faint, flickering lights, casting long, jagged shadows as she moved further.

 She couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her.