The torch roars, throwing shadows over Lyon’s map as I dart down the final tunnel to the spiral stairwell leading to Doug’s apartment. By now, Chill should be deep in the catacombs with Kai. With any luck, they’ll find a computer and Kai can go her own way to search for Névé’s old room. Then Chill can track down Amber, Julio, and the others and make it back to our rendezvous point by the time I break Fleur out of Doug’s room.

I prop my torch against the wall at the base of the stairs. It catches a rust-colored stain on the pale gray slab by my feet. The bloody footprint is small, roughly the same size as Fleur’s.

My heart gallops, and I take the stairs two at a time, mentally preparing myself for whatever condition I might find her in, painfully aware that I won’t have the power to heal her.

My injured arm is throbbing and hot, and my clothes are soaked in sweat. Doug and his Guards will probably smell me coming, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. I’ve lost too much time already.

The metal door at the top of the stairs squeaks as I crack it open. A bright sliver of light slices across the landing as I peek out into the hall. Two Guards stand watch beside Doug’s apartment door. I reach into my pocket, my fingers closing around one of the smoke grenades I picked up at Auggie’s house. Silently, I pull the pin, setting the grenade beside me on the floor. Knife drawn, I press my back against the wall, breathing into my sleeve as clouds of white smoke spill into the corridor.

“Do you smell that?” one of the Guards asks.

“Something’s burning,” the other answers.

Suddenly, they’re running, their boots squeaking on the marble tile.

“It’s coming from the stairwell!”

The door swings open. Light from the torch I left burning at the foot of the stairs flickers through the smoke. “Down there!” one of them shouts between coughs.

The two Guards descend the steps. I blend into the smoke behind them, plunging my blade into the nearest Guard’s back and snagging his key card from the hook at his waist as he drops. The second Guard turns, eyes watering from the smoke. I drag the blade across his throat before he can make a sound.

Two quick flashes of light soar down the stairwell into the tunnel. I cover my mouth, coughing into my sleeve as I wade back through the smoke to the hallway.

An emergency light tinges the thick haze red. I break the glass to the fire alarm and snap down the lever. Sirens wail, and the sprinklers sputter on. Drenched and dripping, I duck back into the stairwell and crouch behind the door.

Doug’s apartment door swings open.