Page 105 of Beautiful Ruins
For a moment the world narrowed to the sound of my breathing and the weight of the choice hanging in the room.
I swallowed hard.
Then forced the words out past the fear tightening my throat.
“I choose us.”
31
Izzy
The panic room was colder than the rest of the house.
The walls were thick, with a reinforced door and a bank of monitors embedded into one side like the room had been designed with the expectation that one day, something like this would happen.
Tone shut the door behind us and locked it with practiced speed.
Her fingers moved quickly across the keypad.There was no hesitation and no fumbling, and I could see that she had probably done this before, or trained for such a scenario.
Or at the very least, she had imagined it enough times to know exactly what to do.
“Sit.”She was already moving toward the camera panel.
I didn’t sit.My legs wouldn’t cooperate.
Gunfire echoed faintly through the walls, distant but constant now.Not random shots.Sustained.Intended to inflict maximum damage.
Tone powered on the camera system.One by one, the screens flickered to life.The first feed showed the front gate.
My stomach dropped.Men in black.Six of them still standing.
Others were already down on the gravel outside, bodies sprawled in unnatural positions near the perimeter where the guards had clearly engaged first.The ground looked chaotic—shell casings scattered, bullet impacts along the gate pillars, one security vehicle angled awkwardly like it had been forced into cover.
“They’re still pushing,” Tone whispered.
Her voice was tight.Focused.She leaned closer to the screen, counting under her breath.
“One… two… three… four… five… six.”
Another camera feed switched automatically to the driveway, where there was more movement.
More men were approaching the house itself.My hands started to shake.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
Tone didn’t respond.
She switched feeds again.
The foyer camera came into view.
Archie was there.
Standing in the shadows near the base of the stairs.
He was standing completely still, like a statue.
Leaning on his cane like he was waiting for a doctor’s appointment instead of an armed assault on a fortified estate.
