Chapter 4 - Skyward Fall
The heavy steel fire door burst open into the freezing rain of the city night. Wind lashed Clara’s face, pulling loose strands from her ponytail. Below them stretched forty stories of gleaming skyscrapers, glistening under neon rain.
The rooftop helipad was vacant, the concrete slick with puddles. Behind them, the stairwell door slammed open with a deafening kick. Marcus stepped out, clutching a bleeding shoulder, backed by four heavily armed mercenaries.
"End of the line, Croft!" Marcus shouted above the howling wind. His eyes were wild, blood dripping onto his lapel. "Moretti wants her alive, but he doesn't need all her fingers. Give her up and walk away. The Syndicate pays you to enforce debts, not protect them!"
Silas stepped squarely in front of Clara, cutting off Marcus’s line of sight. The rain washed over his dark suit, plastering his slicked hair against his temples.
"Her debt isn't money, Marcus," Silas said, voice slicing through the storm. "Her debt is marked in red. Which means the contract is exclusive to me."
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"You won't kill her," Marcus sneered, raising his submachine gun. "You went soft the day you found out who wrote that book."
Silas didn't reply. Without turning, he seized Clara by the waist. Before she could scream, he threw both of them backward over the low rooftop parapet into the open abyss.
