The alarm kept blaring, sharp and jarring, bouncing off the concrete walls like a warning ripped straight from hell itself.

Ares reached instinctively for Alina, pulling her close. Atlas stepped in front of Helena. Maria wrapped her arms protectively around Alina’s shoulders, her pulse hammering.

The monitors flickered again.

Static.

Black.

Noise.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway above.

Slow. Heavy. Deliberate.

Lucian thrashed in his chair, chains clattering like ...