Chapter 75 Time To End This

Chapter 75 Time To End This
Sable POV

The footsteps faded completely, leaving nothing but the sound of water dripping
from a distant pipe.

Drazen stepped back. The sudden loss of his body heat hit me but I welcomed it as it helped clear my head. I didn't say a word about what just happened in the dark because there was no time for it.

He gave a sharp nod toward the end of the corridor signaling we move.

We slipped past two more intersections, navigating the dead zones where the bio-luminescent moss had entirely blackened.

"The archival vault," Drazen whispered.

He stepped up to the slab and placed his uninjured right hand into the depression. He closed his eyes, his breathing slowing as he pushed his pureblood heat into the stone.

Nothing happened.

He gritted his teeth causing a faint, dull red flicker that sparked at the edge of his palm, but it sputtered and died instantly making him let out a harsh, hacking cough, his chest caving inward as the residual respiratory damage from the human lab toxins flared up.

He braced his splinted arm against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

"The gas," I said quietly, stepping up next to him. "I'm sure it did this to you."

"I can force it," he rasped, lifting his hand to try again.

I grabbed his wrist and pulled it away from the rock. "You'll just trigger another coughing fit and alert every guard in here. Let me do it."

He looked at me, skepticism warring with exhaustion. "It is a pureblood lock, Sable. It requires a sustained, concentrated thermal signature."

"I know how hot my hands get, Drazen."

I didn't wait for his permission before I placed my right palm against the cold rough depression.

I didn't try to suppress the Hearthblood or try to build a medical barricade in my mind. I reached for the raw, chaotic adrenaline from deep within, the terror of seeing Sera strapped to that metal chair, and the blinding fury I felt toward Carvek for locking us out.

My palm ignited.

The heat didn't spike and fade, it held, pouring out of my skin in a localized, blistering wave until the rock around my fingers glowed a vibrant, liquid orange.

Deep inside the wall, heavy stone gears ground together. With a loud crack, the slab split down the middle and slid apart.

Drazen stared at the open doorway, then looked at my hand. He didn't offer a compliment, but the absolute respect in his posture said everything.

We stepped inside. The vault was small and smelled of old paper. Stone shelves lined the walls, stacked with leather-bound ledgers, lockboxes, and heavy plastic cases holding encrypted hard drives.

"Bottom shelf, black cases," he directed, keeping watch at the door. "Those contain the deeds to the human dummy corporations and the blackmail files on Vance."

I dropped the bag to the floor, unzipped it, and started shoving the plastic cases inside. The files were heavy, but they were the only evidence we had to strip Carvek of his surface funding.

As I reached for the last lockbox, Drazen raised his hand, forming a sharp fist.

Voices echoed through a rusted iron ventilation grate set high into the wall separating the vault from the adjacent council chamber. The walls helped to amplify the sound, carrying the words directly into the small room.

"You overplayed your hand." Carvek’s voice leaked through the grate, heavy and aggressive.

"I gave you the little power you think you have," a second voice replied.

My blood ran completely cold. When Theron told us about Kassia, I thought he was only trying to scare us but hearing her talk, made me realise just how big our problems have gotten.

I stood up, leaving the bag on the floor. Drazen stepped silently beside me, his jaw clamped tight as we listened.

"You promised me the vanguard," Carvek growled. "You told me your Scoria fighters would guard the outer gates while I handled the weak ones. You did not tell me you were bringing your entire inner circle into my residential block."

"It is not your block, Carvek," Kassia said simply. "You hold Drazen’s throne because I created the distraction that allowed you to take it. Do not confuse a temporary alliance with equality."

A heavy thud echoed through the vent, like a fist hitting the stone council table. "I am the leader of this court. The commoners follow me. If you think you can usurp my rule..."

"I don't care about your rule," she interrupted. The boredom in her tone was chilling. "You can play King of the dirt all you want. I am here for the Hatchery."

"The Hatchery remains sealed." Carvek sounded genuinely stressed. "That was our
agreement. You get the territory, I get the throne, and the unborn purebloods stay dormant until I find a way to extract the carrier from the human city."

"The shells are a parasite," Kassia stated, her voice hardening into absolute fanaticism. "They are the physical chains binding our species to human carriers. As long as they exist, you will always be a slave to the Hearthblood. I am not
waiting for you to find the paramedic. I am going to smash them."

"If you destroy the eggs, my people will riot!" Carvek yelled. "I agreed to an exile, not a genocide!"

"Then step aside, Carvek. Or I will slaughter you along with them."

Footsteps clicked sharply across the council chamber, heading toward the rear doors. The heavy wood slammed shut.

Silence fell over the vault.

Kassia was marching toward the Hatchery. and Carvek had completely lost control of the monster he invited inside.

Drazen turned to me and pointed to the bag on the floor.

"Take the drives," he ordered. "Go back the way we came. The gates should reset in twenty minutes. Theron left the manual override code on the keypad. Get to the surface and give the files to Jonah."

I didn't pick up the bag. "What are you doing?"

"I am going to the Hatchery."

"Drazen, your arm is broken. Your lungs are severely compromised. If you walk into that chamber against Kassia and her vanguard, you are going to die."

"And if she destroys those eggs, my race dies tonight." He reached for the bag himself, grabbed the straps, and shoved it into my hands. "Go."

I dropped the bag and it hit the floor with a loud, heavy thud.

"No."

Drazen’s eyes snapped up to mine. "Sable, this is not a negotiation."

"You're right. It's a suicide mission. And you are not doing it alone." I moved closer, grabbing the front of his shirt. "We still have unfinished business so you can't die."

"I will not let her kill you." he tried to pull me closer than I already was.

"Then you better keep up."

I didn't wait for his argument, I turned my back on the vault, abandoning the files entirely. I stepped out into the freezing corridor and broke into a dead sprint toward the deepest tunnels of the Undercourt.

Time to end this!