Page 148 of Inferno

Tapping my comms, I change my mind. There is only one way this is meant to go down.

“Change of plans. Stay back, everyone out. I’ll get her myself,” I tell them.

Sliding open the top drawer of my desk, I take my father’s blade and holster my gun. Not forgetting the special ingredient that I shove in my pocket. I might need it.

I won’t be played twice by her.

Clicking on the screen, I watch as she heads down the hallway and stops outside the door to the office. I pull up the control center and turn off the lights and the security footage, and my screen goes dark.

“It’s time to play, baby.” I run my hand over the warm screen and grin.

My heart hammers against my ribs as I jog towards the door, the cold air biting at my face.

I need to get to her before she finds the hidden door behind the bookshelf.

It’s time to play the real game.

And end it this time…

Chapter 57

CHARLOTTE

The room is swallowed by darkness, and the girls’ high-pitched screams slice through the silence, echoes rattling down the hallway and bleeding through the closed door.

Before the lights cut, I saw this was an office.

“Shit,” I hiss, thigh slamming into the edge of a desk.

The thumb slips from my grip.

I drop to my hands, feeling around. I can’t see a damn thing.

It’s silent.

Too silent. I expected his men to be on my tail.

I’m trained in a lot of things. Operating blind in pitch black wasn’t one of them.

He’s been watching me through the cameras. He knows I’m here. He knows I’m armed.

My heart pounds as I find the wall, sliding along it with one hand. The knife rests between my teeth. I feel for a switch.

A slow, agonizing creak breaks the silence.

The door opens.

I flatten against the wall, the rough plaster scraping my skin as I suck in a shaky breath.

Not a fucking sound.

Then, footsteps. Heavy. Slow. Measured.

The scent hits me—sandalwood. Rich. Clean. Familiar.

No.

No. No.

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