Page 126 of Twist of Fate

Luke found the red emergency key beneath a clear protective cover. He slammed the heel of his hand against it. Pain shot up his wrist. The plastic cracked but held.

Another blow struck the door.

Voices carried through the steel, muffled but unmistakable.

“Breach it.”

“He’s inside.”

Luke hit the cover again. The crack widened enough for him to hook his fingertips beneath the edge. He tore it away, splitting the skin beneath one nail.

The red key waited beneath it.

Luke closed his fingers around it and turned.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the console flashed white. Every light in the row went dark, and the hum dropped so abruptly that his ears rang with its absence. Backup power kicked on somewhere deeper in the room, rough and uneven, while lines of text raced across the screen.

TRACKING ARRAY DISCONNECTED.

LOCAL DATA ARCHIVE ACTIVE.

MANUAL LOCKDOWN ENGAGED.

Luke scanned the console. A diagram had appeared beneath the warnings, one section of the rack pulsing red.

PRIMARY DATA ARCHIVE.

The indicator pointed to a narrow storage bay below the breaker box. Luke found the recessed handle and pulled.

Nothing moved.

The server-room door screamed beneath another impact. From where Luke stood, he could see the frame beginning to warp around the lock. He wrapped both hands around the handle and pulled again. The archive module slid free with enough force to send him stumbling backward.

Another strike hit the door.

Then another.

They were coming in.

Blood welled beside Luke’s torn nail, making the metal casing slippery beneath his fingers. His hands had begun to shake with the aftermath of too much adrenaline, but he tightened his grip and drove the module against the edge of the server rack.

The casing dented.

He struck it again.

Plastic split, exposing the circuitry inside. Luke hooked his fingers into the opening and tore until something snapped beneath his hands. The console flickered.

LOCAL DATA ARCHIVE ERROR.

A third impact bowed the server-room door inward.

Connal would be furious when he learned what Luke had done. The thought arrived with such certainty that Luke held on to the most important part.

When.

Luke wanted to be there for that fury. He wanted to see Connal’s face and hear the particular way he said Luke’s name when fear and anger tangled together. He wanted another chance to remind the impossible fae warrior that Luke had survived dangerous situations long before Connal came crashing into his life.