Chapter 34

They reached the building—

Catapony's hideout loomed ahead, a crumbling fortress of concrete and steel, its cracked facade streaked with soot and blood.

A few dead bodies lay scattered across the entrance, sprawled in awkward heaps—charred flesh, broken limbs, eyes staring blankly at the night sky. Ryn stepped over them without a glance, Elena kicked one aside with her boot, and the Vitalist flinched but followed, her silver-gray eyes darting away.

The prison should be in the basement, they thought—so they searched for a staircase, boots crunching over glass and debris until Elena spotted a rusted metal door half-hidden behind a collapsed wall. She yanked it open, hinges screaming, and they descended.