Chapter Twenty-Four – Echoes and Gunfire

Liam crashed through the narrow tunnels, bullets zipping past him and ricocheting off ancient stone. Dust filled his lungs, and each heartbeat pounded like a war drum.

He reached a rusted iron door, slammed it shut behind him, and bolted through another corridor. He had no idea where he was going, only that his pursuers were getting closer.

Just as one of the assassins raised a rifle from the shadows—

Boom! A pipe burst beside them, steam hissing like a dragon's breath.

A hand yanked Liam down into a vent tunnel, and they slid several meters before landing in a dim underground chamber. The smell of old machinery filled the air.

"Nice of you to still be predictable," a voice grumbled with a smile.

"Volund?" Liam gasped. "How the hell—?"

The bearded man handed him a compact pistol. "You lit up a dozen old-world sensors in that crypt. Figured I'd check who was suicidal enough to follow Kael's trail. Surprise—it's you."

Before Liam could respond, another figure dropped in from a higher ledge—a woman in a fitted winter coat, crimson scarf fluttering.

"I leave you for ten years and you're still getting shot at," she said, arms crossed.

Liam's jaw dropped. "...Sena?"

She smirked and flicked snow off her shoulder. "Don't get emotional. I only saved you because you'd probably get lost in a broom closet."

"Sena's here on her own mission," Volund added. "And I figured you two could use a reunion—preferably not during a funeral."

Gunfire rang out above. The assassins had found the tunnel.

"Less talk, more run!" Sena barked, drawing two pistols from beneath her coat.

The trio raced through a series of maintenance shafts and emerged in an abandoned subway station. Explosions echoed behind them as Volund set off a tripwire trap.

They dove onto a maintenance rail cart, and Volund cranked the engine to life.

As they sped through the pitch-black tunnels, Sena sat beside Liam, watching him carefully.

"You always were chasing ghosts," she muttered.

"And you always hated that," Liam replied, catching his breath.

Her cheeks reddened faintly. "I didn't hate it... I just hated that you never took me with you, idiot."

He blinked.

Then she turned away, arms crossed again. "Don't read into it. You're still hopeless."

Volund burst into laughter from the driver's seat. "Ah, young love and murder attempts. Nothing's changed."

Liam leaned back, heart pounding from adrenaline and something deeper.

He was no longer alone.

And the trail of Kael had just gotten warmer.

To be continued...