The bunker was silent except for the rain — and the slow, uneven hiss of electricity dying in the walls.

Smoke curled from the consoles, rising in thin, ghostlike threads that smelled of ozone and burnt circuitry. The floor was slick with condensation, and in the center of it all lay Evelyn, motionless but alive — faint tendrils of blue light still tracing under her skin before finally dimming away.

Hale knelt beside her, pressing two fingers to her neck. Pulse — weak but steady. He let ...