Page 54 of Broken Wolf Heart
When he realizes no one’s going to stop this, he waves at us, still wincing in pain. “Go,” he manages. “Franco coded his heir’s thumbprint as a secondary access. That will get you in.”
Still, Grey doesn’t release the first guard.
The man’s face is purple, and his eyes are bulging.
“Grey,” I say, sensing that pulsing darkness inside him from before. Except now, it’s the only thing I feel. Like it’s all there is of Grey’s essence.
“Grey,” I repeat, more forcefully this time.
I touch his elbow, and he snaps to attention.
“We have what we need.”
In the next instant, he releases the guard, who collapses to the ground, choking and drooling as he sucks in air.
“Come on.” Grey’s hand lands on the small of my back, and he propels me forward. There’s not a trace of emotion in those two words.
Mia yanks her knife out of the second guard and then yanks him aside. He stumbles then hurries into the woods where he vanishes into the trees, leaving his friend to his own fate.
Mia wipes her blade on her pants before tucking it back into her belt. She catches me watching and says, “What? I didn’t even hit an artery. He’ll be healed in half an hour.”
I shake my head.
Grey takes my hand, and I look over to find his expression still somehow both dark and devoid of feeling. “There,” he says, nodding.
I look over. And just ahead, a silver panel is embedded into the rock, disguised as part of the hillside. My stomach clenches as I step forward. There’s a biometric scanner embedded in the wall.
I hesitate.
Franco never acknowledged me as his blood relation. He killed my parents and then let me rot in foster care. Forced me to spy on Grey and the others. Used me like a pawn. I expected nothing from him. Certainly not…
I press my thumb to the glass.
It flashes red.
Then green.
A low hiss escapes as the steel door begins to open with an ominous groan.
“Well,” Mia mutters. “That’s not creepy at all.”
I shake my head. “Franco never acknowledged me,” I say, staring at the now-open door.
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t see you as his heir,” Grey says quietly. “Maybe he meant for you to have his title in the end after all.”
The idea makes me want to throw up.
Having a monster like Franco’s blessing is almost worse than not having it.
We step into a dim hallway that smells like bleach and wet earth and, beneath it all, something older—a scent I can’t name but somehow know is magic. The lights flicker overhead, casting everything in a sterile, lifeless glow. The air feels thinnerhere, like the mountain itself is built too tightly to let even oxygen inside. Like, once you go in, you don’t come out.
When the door slides shut, I jump.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Mia mutters.
“Just wait,” Crow says. “I’m sure it gets worse.”
We pass sealed rooms with windows offering glimpses into the tiny space. Inside are tables with leather restraints, monitors that sit blankly, refrigerated cabinets filled with labeled vials. I can’t help imagining that some of them could be marked with my name.
