Smoke curled like ghosts above the broken monitors.
Elias woke with a cough, the metallic taste of ozone thick in his mouth. The bunker was silent except for the slow hum of cooling servers. A thin line of light blinked across the floor, the emergency system still alive, barely.
He pushed himself up. His shoulder ached; blood trickled from a cut near his hairline.
"Aria?" His voice cracked. No answer.
Her body lay a few feet away, pale against the cold metal floor. Wires from the console snaked across her wrist like vines. Her chest moved, slow, steady, but her eyes were closed, pupils hidden behind fluttering lids.
He touched her face. "Come back," he whispered. Nothing.
He turned to the main console. Every screen showed the same symbol: a crown made of static.
Sebastian's mark.
Elias gritted his teeth. "You bastard."
