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I climb up the rubble, and up, and up, until I reach the surface.

Then I haul myself free and tear through the abandoned fairground as quickly as my feet can carry me.

It is early.

The sun is barely inching up over the horizon, but it is light enough that they cannot follow me without risking death.

The city is quiet, for the students are all sleeping off hangovers and the commuters are yet to stumble out into the streets in search of coffee and buses.

Stores are still shuttered.

It is as if the world has paused so I can run through it, barefoot and bleeding, and find my way back to Nova and Thornfield.

When I arrive at the museum, I hurtle up the steps, bang my fists on the door, then collapse.

5

LUTHER

I step into the dark belly of the abandoned warehouse Annalise sent me to. The air is thick with mold. Apprehension settles in my collarbones.

I agreed to Annalise’s request because I had to; she gave me no choice.

But now I’m here, I’m beginning to wonder whether jail might be better. Because the place I’m about to go to – in my head – to get to where I’m willing to flay the truth from her prisoner’s lips, is somewhere I vowed I’d never go again.

Never.

In the shadows, darkness clings to the skeletal remains of the storage containers. The only light is the sickly pallor that seeps through the grimy skylights above.

I am glad of the dark.

I need the dark.

In my pockets, my hands tremble. Not from the chill that seeps into my bones, but from the gnawing knowledge that Nova would hate what I’m about to do.

She would be appalled.

She would tell me to walk away, no matter what the cost.

Or she’d kill Annalise for putting me in this position.

Fucking Sam; if he’d stayed, maybe⁠—

No, it’s not Sam’s fault. It’s mine. I did this once before. I tortured the people who killed my family, and I thought I’d gotten away with it. Not deep inside, not down in the pit of my soul, but with the Bureau.

Turns out, they knew all along.

“Luther?”

Nico’s voice surprises me, and yet it doesn’t. I turn to see him stalking out of the shadows. His body looks different – as if he’s either just returned from a shift or just about to. His eyes flash, and a growl rattles in his throat.

Just about to, I’d wager.

“She brought you here, too,” I mutter.

Nico nods, and rubs the back of his neck. “She didn’t tell me why, just that I was to meet you here, and that I shouldn’t let you leave until the job is done. What’s going on? What job?”

I tut and shake my head. I don’t know if Nico could stop me if he really wanted to. I suspect he could. “Looks like Annalise thought I might need an assistant.” I look him up and down, then roll my eyes.