Page 123 of Twist of Fate

“They took the service corridor.”

The intruders weren’t tracking magic. They were following the building’s layout and the only escape route Hale could have used.

Which meant Hale was leading them directly to the system they had come to find.

Luke looked at the camera. “Can they access that feed?”

“Not unless they’ve breached the security network.”

Another impact rang through the corridor. Metal groaned.

“Assume they have,” Luke said. “Where’s the next access point?”

“Beyond the turn.”

“Then move.”

They ran.

The corridor dropped again, steeper this time, and ended at another reinforced door. Hale swiped his keycard. The reader flashed green, allowing them through before the door sealed behind them.

Second access point.

The third waited at the bottom of the slope. This one required Hale’s keycard and a code entered on a numbered keypad. His fingers slipped on the first attempt.

“Slow down,” Luke said. “Get it right.”

Hale shot him a look, then entered the code again. The lock released.

They passed through and reached a landing where two routes opened ahead beneath a sign printed in stark black letters.

**AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.**

One corridor continued straight toward an elevator, its stainless-steel doors scuffed near the bottom. The other angled right, ending at a reinforced stairwell door beneath a red EXIT sign. Halfway along that route stood a windowless door with two separate access panels—a keycard reader and another keypad. A camera tracked the corridor from above it.

The air there was colder, carrying a dry metallic bite that raised the hair along Luke’s arms.

He knew what waited behind that door before Hale spoke.

“The server room.”

Hale stopped at the center of the landing. For the first time since they’d left the office, he looked uncertain.

Luke hated that more than the pursuit. “Which way gets us out?”

“The elevator should take us back to the service level. The stairwell leads outside.”

“Should?”

“If the building hasn’t locked them down.”

Luke nodded toward the windowless door. “And you can get us in there?”

“Yes.”

Luke looked from the server room to the stairwell beyond it. Hale followed his gaze and understood the choice he was measuring.

“If we leave now, we might make it outside,” Hale said. “If we enter the server room, we won’t finish the shutdown before they reach us.”