Chapter 4 - The East Wing Corridor
The shadows in the east gallery were thick, heavy, and suffocating.
Magnus moved like a shadow himself, his hand resting on the grip of the pistol, his boots making no sound on the runner rug lining the floorboards. Sabina moved ahead of him with an eerie, familiar grace, gliding along the wall as if she had mapped every inch of the architecture in the dark—which, Magnus realized with a bitter pang, she undoubtedly had.
"Two men moving up the service stairwell," Sabina whispered, stopping near a marble bust of Magnus’s grandfather. She didn't look back at him. "I can hear the click of their gear belts."
"How do you know what a gear belt sounds like, Sabina?" Magnus asked, his voice barely a breath against her ear. "Art valuation consultants don't usually specialize in tactical auditory recognition."
"My father was Director of Operations for the Bundesnachrichtendienst," she replied flatly. "I spent my childhood in safehouses in Hamburg. Now shut up and aim at the top step."
Magnus raised his weapon, aligning his sights with the dark archway leading to the service stairs.
A moment later, a figure emerged from the stairwell. The man was covered in matte-black tactical gear, wearing a night-vision goggle rig over his helmet. He raised a short-barrelled carbine, sweeping the barrel left and right in a deliberate, professional search pattern.
He’s searching for heat signatures, Magnus realized.
"Sabina," Magnus breathed. "Get down."
Before he could pull the trigger, Sabina did something entirely insane.
She hurled one of her heavy glass high-heeled shoes across the gallery.
The shoe struck an ornate brass floor lamp thirty feet to their right, sending it crashing against the hardwood floor with a loud, metallic clatter.
CRASH.
The intruder swung his weapon toward the sound instantly.
POP-POP-POP.
A burst of suppressed fire shredded the plaster wall near the lamp.
The instant the man committed his fire, Magnus stepped out from behind the marble bust and fired twice.
BANG. BANG.
The unsuppressed 9mm shots roared like cannon fire in the enclosed hallway. The muzzle flashes illuminated the gallery in stark, blinding strobe bursts. The intruder gasped, his body jerking backward as both rounds struck him in the center of his chest plate. He tumbled down the stone stairwell, his heavy equipment clattering against the steps.
"Clear!" Magnus shouted, grabbing Sabina’s arm and hauling her toward the east wing door.
"That loud little display just brought the rest of them up the main stairs!" Sabina barked, her bare feet flying across the floor beside him. "Run!"
They sprinted down the remaining length of the corridor, reaching the heavy mahogany door of Lottie’s suite.
Magnus slammed his palm against the door. "Lottie! It’s Daddy! Open the door!"
There was a frantic sound of deadbolts sliding back from the inside. The door swung open, and Lottie stood there, crying uncontrollably, holding her stuffed rabbit like a shield.
"Daddy!" she sobbed, throwing her small arms around his waist. "The lights went out! I heard loud noises!"
Magnus dropped to one knee, wrapping his powerful arms around his daughter, pressing his face into her soft hair. "I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you. You're safe."
"She's not safe here," Sabina said coldly, standing at the threshold, watching the dark hallway behind them. "They're coming up the grand stairs now. Three men. Fully armed."
Lottie looked over Magnus’s shoulder, saw Sabina standing in the doorway, and immediately shrank back, her eyes wide with terror. "No! Don't let her near me! She told me you were going to throw me away!"
Magnus looked up at Sabina. The woman’s face was unreadable in the dark, but he caught the subtle, painful tightening around her jaw.
"Lottie," Magnus said gently, holding his daughter’s shoulders. "Look at me."
The little girl looked into her father’s eyes.
"Sabina made a mistake," Magnus said, choosing his words with razor-sharp precision. "She said bad things because she was trying to keep bad people away from us. But right now, we have to trust her to get out of this house. Do you understand?"
Lottie looked from her father to Sabina, her lower lip trembling. "Is... is she going to take me away?"
Sabina stepped into the room, crouching down so she was at eye level with the child. The cold, ruthless operative persona vanished for a fraction of a second, revealing something raw, bruised, and profoundly tragic.
"I will never let anyone take you, Charlotte," Sabina said softly, her voice steady and absolute. "I promised your mother I would protect you. Even if it meant you had to hate me to stay alive."
Lottie gasped. "You... you knew my mommy?"
May you like
Sabina didn't answer. Down the hall, heavy boots stomped onto the carpeted floor of the east wing.
"We have ten seconds," Sabina said, standing up instantly, her face turning back into stone. "The laundry chute in the master closet leads directly to the sub-basement bunker. Magnus, take her down. I’ll hold the hallway."
