CHAPTER 28

Into the Labyrinth

The door groans open, the ancient locking mechanisms protesting as Riley works her magic. A final click, a low metallic hiss, and the seal breaks. Stale air rushes out, thick with dust, and something deeper—something wrong.

I grip my weapon tighter as we step inside.

The bunker is cold, the kind that seeps through your skin and settles in your bones. It stretches before us in tight corridors and shadowed alcoves, barely lit by the weak flicker of overhead bulbs.

Riley exhales. "This place is still running."

Not fully, but enough.

Someone's been here. Recently.

I glance around, scanning the old terminals lining the walls and the rusted desks covered in decayed files and abandoned notes. But among the ruins, something hums—a faint vibration through the floor.

I follow it.

Riley stays close, her eyes sharp, every step deliberate.

The sound leads us deeper, past rooms filled with outdated tech, past shattered monitors displaying only static. Then—

A lab.

It's cleaner than the rest of the bunker. Less dust, fewer signs of decay. This room was used long after the rest of this place was abandoned.

On the far desk, a terminal blinks weakly, its screen coated in grime.

Riley doesn't hesitate. She slides into the chair, fingers flying over the old keyboard.

I keep watch, my nerves on edge. Something feels off.

Then Riley curses under her breath.

"What?" I step closer.

She jerks her chin toward the screen. "It's encrypted, but I'm breaking through. These files aren't just old research. They were updated a few weeks ago."

My stomach tightens.

She works, bypassing firewalls, and dismantling layers of security until—

The screen shifts.

The first file loads.

And just like that, the floor beneath my world shatters.

Elias' name. The Oath. And… memory tampering.

I step closer, my pulse hammering. "What the hell is this?"

Riley scrolls through the documents. Human trials. Unregistered experiments.

A scientist's name appears again and again.

Dr. Adrien Voss.

A single memory slams into me like a bullet.

A sterile room. A man with cold eyes. A name I'd buried.

Voss.

I saw him before the mission with Julian.

I grip the desk. Why the hell didn't I remember that until now?

Riley's fingers tighten into fists. "Nathan, this isn't just some experiment. They were rewriting people. Testing neural reprogramming on live subjects."

The blood in my veins turns to ice.

Elias knew.

She clicks another file. It's an audio log, distorted but still clear enough to make my breath hitch.

Elias' voice.

Static crackles, and then his words cut through, sharp and urgent.

"Julian isn't the traitor. The traitor… is inside your head."

I freeze.

The room tilts.

No.

My heartbeat roars in my ears.

I step back, shaking my head, but the words don't leave me. They anchor themselves in my skull, burning through the fog.

Riley slowly turns to me, her expression cautious. She doesn't say it out loud, but I hear it anyway.

"What if Elias was talking about you?"

The thought slams into me so violently I can barely breathe.

I force air into my lungs. "No. That's impossible."

But doubt is already coiling around my ribs, sinking its claws into my mind.

The gaps in my memory. The things I don't remember doing. The way Julian looked at me before everything went to hell.

Did I do something? Was I reprogrammed?

A sudden noise breaks the silence.

A sharp, mechanical whirr.

Then—

The bunker comes to life.

Red lights flood the space. The ground vibrates.

Riley's head snaps up. "Nathan, we need to—"

A siren wails through the halls.

Security drones.

I grab her arm, yanking her up. "Move!"

Metallic screeches echo from the corridors. The sound of machines activating.

Riley slings her gear over her shoulder. "They triggered a lockdown."

No time to think. No time to process.

We sprint.

The lab doors slam open behind us, and the drones pour in—sleek, mechanicaland, armed.

The first one fires.

I shove Riley down as bullets tear into the walls, shredding old documents and sparking off rusted metal.

We dive into the corridor, boots hammering against the floor.

Another drone swings around the corner.

I don't hesitate.

I fire.

The impact sends it reeling, sparks bursting from its core.

But more are coming.

Riley skids to the right, heading toward the exit, but a blast shakes the ground, blocking the route with collapsed debris.

She curses. "Other way!"

We pivot, sprinting deeper into the bunker. Nowhere to go but forward.

Another corridor. Another turn.

The ceiling trembles. The entire structure feels like it's fighting to keep us inside.

A doorway up ahead. I barrel through it, dragging Riley with me and slamming the door shut behind us.

Darkness.

The drones whir outside. Searching.

I catch my breath, my back against the door, my mind still spinning from Elias' words.

Riley's voice is quiet but sharp. "Nathan. What if it's true?"

I meet her gaze.

She doesn't mean the drones.

She means me.

I exhale, my chest tight. "Then we better find out before someone else does."

A cold silence stretches between us.

Then—

A new voice crackles over the bunker's speakers.

Low. Distorted.

"You're already too late."

The room locks down.