"That's a problem," Andrew frowned, and heat rushed straight to my face.
"Sorry, it's not my idea. I just… if it makes you uncomfortable—"
"That's not what I meant," Storik cut me off. "I mean we can get in quietly if I use my ability. Climbing over the fence is how we get caught."
"Oh… right. Yeah. You're right. Then how do we—"
"We do it like this."
Andrew stepped in behind me.
He took both my hands and placed my palms over his, against the backs of his hands.
My thoughts immediately went somewhere they absolutely shouldn't.
I could feel him against my back.
The man who made my head spin, who made my heart stutter like it might seize outright, was pressed close enough that even through layers of fabric, I felt everything.
The solid press of his body.
The heat.
The weight of him.
"And now we just do this," he said quietly.
He lifted our joined hands.
Released a stream of power—
and a section of the fence turned translucent.
We stepped through it slowly.
Without breaking contact.
Without changing position.
The moment we crossed, he let go.
Stepped back.
I dragged in a sharp breath.
Had I… really not been breathing that whole time?
God.
I'm losing it.
This isn't the time. Not the place.
But did the pass even work?
"I didn't feel anything," I said, turning to him—then rushed to add, "I mean the pass. Wasn't I supposed to feel something? How do I know it worked?"
"Well," Andrew shrugged, "if security comes running right now, then it didn't."
"Either way, standing here is a bad idea. Let's move."
I nodded.
We moved forward carefully.
There was a stretch between the fence and the building.
Short—
but completely exposed.
A few scattered structures.
No real cover.
Andrew scanned the area, then gave a quick nod.
Go.
I crossed my fingers and ran.
Those few dozen meters felt like the most dangerous part of the night.
Anyone could've seen us.
All it took was one glance in the wrong direction.
The moment my back hit the wall, I exhaled.
We stayed still for a few minutes.
Listening.
Waiting.
"Let's go," Andrew said.
Then he opened another passage.
Straight through the wall.
I followed him inside.
Right now, I was really glad he was with me.
Without his ability, this would've been impossible.
I wondered if he could pass through anything.
Or if there were limits.
I was just about to ask—
when he stopped abruptly and slammed me back against the wall.
The next second, we were somewhere else.
Another room.
Muffled voices bled through the wall we'd just passed.
Close.
Too close.
"That was close," I whispered.
Andrew gave a short nod.
I looked around.
A lab.
Dim light spilled from a large glass tank, like an oversized aquarium, casting a low, eerie glow across the room.
White tiles.
Test tubes.
Worktables.
Nothing unusual.
I stepped closer to the tank, but no matter how hard I looked, there was nothing inside.
Empty.
"As far as I remember," Andrew said from behind me, making me flinch, "we're here for the library."
"…Right. Yeah. Where to now?"
"Wish I knew."
"You've been here before. Don't you know where it is?"
"I wasn't exactly given a tour," he shot back.
"…Sorry," I exhaled. "We're already here. Leaving empty-handed would suck."
"This is the first floor," he said. "Mostly classrooms."
"Second—living quarters and private training rooms."
"Third… no idea."
"Then we check it."
We moved through the corridors toward the stairs.
Even with restricted access, there were still guards.
Not many.
But enough.
Without Andrew, we wouldn't have made it ten steps.
The hallways were narrow.
No cover.
Not even a plant.
Every room on the first floor was locked.
The third floor—
nothing.
More labs.
Strange equipment we didn't have time to examine.
After checking every corner, Andrew was spent.
He'd been forcing passage after passage through solid walls.
Power itself might be limitless.
But using it wasn't.
It drained you.
Body.
Mind.
No matter how strong he was, this was taking its toll.
"…Sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't think it would hit you this hard."
"It's fine," he said. "I haven't pushed my ability like this in a while."
"I'll catch my breath, then we keep going."
"We don't have much time."
"But we've checked the whole third floor. Maybe it's on the first?"
"I doubt it. That's all public space. When I was here before, no one restricted me, but they made it clear I wasn't allowed past the first floor."
"Then the second?"
"Living quarters. I don't see them keeping something like that around students and instructors."
He shook his head.
"No. There's another place."
"…Underground," I said.
"There has to be a basement."
"…Worth checking."
I glanced at my watch.
Almost four.
We couldn't stay much longer.
I looked at Andrew.
Sweat beaded across his forehead.
Not from the temperature.
We should stop.
I wanted to say it.
Wanted to tell him we'd come back another time.
Walk away.
But I didn't.
Even seeing what this was doing to him—
I kept going.
We moved down.
"Something's wrong," Andrew rasped suddenly, frowning.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"That's not it," he said. "I can't use my ability."
"It's like something's pushing it back."
"I don't—"
Before he could finish, the basement lights snapped on.
I froze.
Ahead—
a single metal door.
Behind—
footsteps.
That was it.
The moment a shadow appeared on the stairs, my body jerked sideways.
Unlike me, Andrew didn't panic.
We couldn't go forward.
The stairs were blocked.
Why did he pull me?
There was nowhere to run.
A few seconds—
and we were done.
Andrew moved.
Dragging me with him, straight toward the guards.
The first man stepped into the light—
and Andrew hit him.
Hard.
The guard dropped at our feet.
We rushed up a few steps.
Voices.
Footsteps.
Closing in.
"No way back to the corridor," Andrew said calmly, scanning the space.