Page 91 of Echos and Empires
He wouldn’t let the past claim him . He wouldn’t let Victor win.
A deafening scream announced a new threat, tearing through the space like the warning once the bombs fell. William felt the change before he saw it, a low rumble reverberating through the floor, through his bones. The lights went red, flashing like a heartbeat, and he knew what it meant even before the words took shape in his mind.
“Self-destruct,” he shouted, pulling them up short, his eyes scanning the chamber. It was vast and cold, a cavern of metal and wire, and he felt the weight of it pressing down on him. They’d walked right into Victor’s game, right into the jaws of the beast, and now it was closing around them.
But he couldn’t give up. Not when Emma was waiting, not when their lives were on the line.
He spotted the terminal, a small console glowing with taunting brightness in the center of the room. The noise was deafening, the low rumble of the sequence threatening to tear them apart, but William was calm, cold, his mind sharper than the edge of a knife.
“We shut it down,” he said, the command as resolute as the desperation that drove it. “Now.”
They were already moving before he finished, the decision shared and understood between them. They couldn’t lose this time. William wouldn’t let them.
He reached the terminal, his hands steady and his eyes hard as he assessed the critical choice before them. Shut down the power, destroy everything, cut off Victor’s advantage—or risk it all to save the innocent lives trapped in the adjacent cells. It was a race against time, and every second was a battle, a breath, a life.
William knew what he had to do, even as the world threatened to collapse around him. He had to step off and let Alex solve this, because he was better with machines.
William’s voicebarely reached Alex over the chaos, but Alex knew what to do. Shut it down. Stop the trap. Alex threw himself at the terminal as William stepped aside, his fingers and mind moving like quicksilver over the controls. It was impossible, impossible that they would lose her now. Lose everything. The lights flashed red, the countdown screamed. His hands moved faster. William was with the others, ready to bolt as soon as Alex finished. The hours they’d spent apart were too much. He couldn’t lose her again. Couldn’t. He had to make this work. Had to.
The words on the screen blurred and then focused, his mind sharp despite the noise and the fear that clawed at him. He’d promised they’d be safe, promised he’d never leave them again. Emma. Her name pulsed with each beat of the countdown, pushing him to move faster, think faster. She was his. They were all his. He couldn’t let this happen.
He ranted in his head, wild thoughts tangling with his focus. They should’ve checked this place out. Should’ve known Victor wouldn’t be here once they realized there were no guards. They’d been sloppy, left too much to chance, and now it was blowing up in their faces. Literally. He couldn’t stand it, couldn’t stand losing them again when they’d come so close, when it had all seemed like it was finally going to work. He wasn’t going to let it fall apart. Not now.
The lights blazed, an angry crimson that stained his vision and turned the world into a blur of desperation and need. His hands were a blur, too, flying over the keys with reckless speed, each keystroke a lifeline, a promise, a hope. He had to make this work. For her. For all of them. He had to.
The terminal beeped angrily, as if it knew how high the stakes were and how little time was left. Alex ignored it, pushed past it, forced his mind to work harder, faster. He could do this.He would do this. He wasn’t going to let Victor take them apart, wasn’t going to let some damn machine get the best of him.
Not now.
Not ever.
He heard the others, their footsteps ready to bolt, ready to run the second he finished. They trusted him. He had to trust himself. Had to believe he could beat this, that he could win. The air pulsed with urgency, every breath a countdown, every second a step closer to losing it all.
Alex didn’t look at the others. He didn’t need to. He knew they were ready, knew they believed in him. He wouldn’t let them down. His thoughts raced, a furious storm of love and fear and drive. He couldn’t let Emma be a pawn in Victor’s game, couldn’t let the family they’d started to build shatter like glass under the weight of their enemies.
The noise was deafening, the alarms, the lights, the rapid fire of his own heartbeat. He couldn’t lose this time. Couldn’t lose her. Couldn’t lose them. He forced his focus tighter, sharper, the outside world shrinking until it was only him and the terminal and the desperate need to succeed.
They had missed something critical, missed Victor a second time. The thought stung, a sharp blade twisting in his mind, but he couldn’t let it distract him. He had to finish this, had to make it work. Had to stop the countdown, stop the self-destruct, stop everything that Victor had planned to tear them apart. He was so close. So damn close.
Alex could feel it, the pieces falling into place, the code yielding to his determination, his speed, his need. It had to work. It would work. He wouldn’t accept anything else.
Not when Emma’s life was on the line. Not when they’d all sacrificed so much already.
A beep.
Then another.
Then the screen went dark.
He’d done it.
Alex barely had time to breathe before the speakers crackled to life, an icy voice shattering the brief silence.
“We let you find this place,” it taunted, calm and cutting. “A diversion. Our men in the trees, in the sky, knows where you came from.”
Alex went numb with disbelief and fury. He’d been so close. He’d stopped the countdown, stopped the self-destruct. But the real danger, the real threat—it was still out there. It had always been out there. Waiting. Watching.
His mind spun, a hurricane of anger and realization. They’d missed it, missed the real play, the real move. The force of his mistake came at him like a brutal, physical blow as the voice continued, calm and relentless.
