Chapter 5 - The Heir's Mark
The darkness in the room felt heavy and suffocating. Thomas’s hand shot out, clamping around Nora’s wrist with surprising strength for an injured man.
""Down,"" he whispered.
Nora crawled across the floorboards to the armchair, gathering Maya into her arms. The baby began to stir, but Nora pressed her close, placing a pinky finger into Maya’s mouth to soothe her into silence. Her own heart was pounding so violently she feared whoever was outside could hear it through the timber walls.
Thomas pushed himself up from the floor, ignoring the blood seeping through his fresh bandages. He didn't pick up a gun; instead, he slipped a pair of night-vision optics over his head and touched a panel beside the baseboard. A low mechanical hum vibrated beneath the floor.
""What is that?"" Nora breathed.
""Root cellar. Steel-reinforced. Go down the hatch. Do not open it for anyone unless you hear me tap three times, pause, then twice.""
""You can barely stand!"" Nora hissed. ""If there are more of them, you can't fight them alone.""
""I don't plan on fighting them in a straight line,"" Thomas said, his face shadowed in the faint moonlight filtering through the blinds. ""They cut the power, which means they don't know the perimeter is mined with trip-flares. They think this is a soft target. Get in the hatch, Nora. Now.""
She looked at him—this stranger who had thrown his life into the meat grinder for a father she thought was dust—and nodded. She stepped onto the wooden ladder leading down into the subterranean darkness, holding Maya against her chest.
Before she lowered the heavy oak lid, Thomas leaned over the opening. He pulled a silver chain from around his neck and dropped it into her palm. Hanging from it was a heavy brass key stamped with a series of coordinates.
""If I don't come down in twenty minutes,"" he whispered, ""there's an egress tunnel at the north wall behind the wine racks. It leads to the drainage creek. Take the key. Find a safe deposit box at First Trust in Boston under the name 'Elizabeth Vance'.""
""Elizabeth?"" Nora asked, bewildered. ""That was my grandmother's name.""
""No,"" Thomas said, his voice flat and chill. ""That was my mother. Arthur didn't just work for the Vance family, Nora. He was the eldest son. Which means you are the rightful head of the empire they're killing to keep.""
May you like
He slammed the trapdoor shut before she could comprehend the words.
Above her, the floor shook as a deafening explosion ripped through the front yard. Shouts and automatic gunfire erupted immediately overhead, followed by the terrifying sound of glass shattering across the living room floor.
