cascade | kotlc

23. Down the Shaft of Despair

tw: bl/od

Floor 82.

Floor 81.

Floor 80.

Tam's shadow passed over June's again.

"So," he whispered. "What exactly do we do with this briefcase? Do we give it to the Council? To the Black Swan? Keep it ourselves?"

"I'm not sure," she muttered back, making sure to keep her voice low and in the Enlightened Language. "But we should get out of this tower first. Have you told Biana we're coming down?"
He nodded. "She's focusing on redirecting all the security so we can get out as smoothly as possible."

June blew out a breath, flicking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "That's nice. How are we getting out?"

"Fitz is landing his helicopter. Apparently it took quite a lot of work to get the humans out -- and you might want to plug your nose."

She flinched. The three Chinese men talked amongst themselves.

"This went much better than I thought it would," she admitted, leaning against the corner. "I thought we'd have to fight a lot more people. It just seems too easy, doesn't it?"

"It does," Tam agreed. "Though-" He blanched, turning toward the three men. June frowned, tapping his shoulder. His eyebrows were scrunched together, almost like he was taking a shadowvapor reading. The temperature in the elevator dropped by three degrees Celsius.

The men still conversed by themselves, seemingly not aware.

"Something's wrong," Tam muttered. "Very- duck!"

A man whipped out a revolver and Tam shoved her away, milliseconds before a gunshot embedded into the back elevator wall. Darkness swirled in the enclosed space and the light dimmed before it shut off completely, trapping them in pitch black again. June heard the sound of sparse grunting before her vision adjusted.

Two pistols laid on the ground, and Tam was struggling with a man. They ran into the side wall and Tam's fingers curled around the sleek iron handrail, curved at the edges like a kitchen faucet.

June tried to stand, but her feet wobbled traitorously. Tears bit at her eyes and she stumbled toward the men, groping around in the darkness. Tam yanked out a part of the handrail, using the hook part and locking it around a man's neck before he twisted. The man flew over his shoulder and Tam groaned, looping the hook around another man's ankle and sweeping his feet out.

Flashes of black interlaced June's vision, and Tam's figure dissolved into the empty darkness. Someone kicked a gun toward her and she caught the trigger, her hand wrapping around the handle. Her wrist shook furiously and the gun trembled in her hand. She didn't dare to shoot. The men had swapped positions, switching with each other and turning, and she didn't know who was who. There was no guarantee she wasn't shooting Tam.

"Stop," she cried out. A figure looped the hook around another's arm and bolted the iron beam over his shoulders. The trapped man let out a scream and bone wrenched, mangling, and Tam -- it was Tam -- kicked the man against the wall and pulled his arm behind his back, deforming his shoulder.

The elevator lurched to a stop and the doors slid open. Light leaked in and June shielded her eyes. Tam's face was illuminated, and all June could see on it was pure determination and resignation, oxymoronically combining. More men stepped into the elevator, holding out guns, and Tam let out a helpless groan. Gunshots littered the area and June ducked behind the elevator button panel, adjusting her comms.

"Biana," she demanded. "Biana! Close the elevator doors. Shut down the elevator. Now!"

She didn't hear Biana's response. Her finger quivered as it tried to hold down the trigger, and Tam rolled around, using the other men as a shield. Blood splattered the intricate marble tiling of the elevator. The elevator lurched again before it hurtled into freefall.