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"I’ll probably always be this ith you," he says "If so were to ever happen to you…I don’t want to end up like Fredrik" He pauses, looking briefly at the brick wall and then he sighs "I’ll go in ahead of you," he says

I nod slowly and he kisseshere, the wooden door set in the wall at the end of the concrete steps closing behind hi

This is why I hate working with Victor, and why I prefer working with Niklas, regardless of how much I hate Niklas Victor is hard on h sos just to prove I’ in the field, he often treats me like a child Not all the tiut feelings Quietly I question his true reason for being here Because I know that his love for h to put any of us at risk to save a ‘little old lady’ He has gone out of his way to keep Dina safe and comfortable in various safe-houses across the country, all because sheall of us like this just to save her from her kidnapper is out of character for hi it just to save her That gut feeling of his is telling his may be at stake, that there’s far nored

I go down the steps and let the darkness of the basement floor s me up inside of it, too

Victor is nowhere to be seen when ht bathes the area in spots, pooling near the few small, horizontal s set in the brick, covered by years of dust and thick with cobwebs On the other side of the vast, mostly empty space, past a pile of debris and a stack of old bicycles, there’s a tall rock staircase Another sht And to my left is more debris--piles of broken rock and tattered insulation and strips of wood that had been pulled froun at the ready intells me this unexpected ht be un event As I ascend the rock steps quietly, I reach down and pat Pearl jutting up from my boot, just to make sure she’s still there She and I have a very close relationship--she’s killed far ht on the base me around on the sixth step to look behindfroht-fitting attire helpingauburn hair is pulled into a tight braid trailing down the center ofmy vision sharp I don’t move and I steady my breath so that it’s as noiseless as the rest of un when I hear the distinct sound of s crunched underneath a pair of boots

"It’s just me!" Dorian whispers sharply as his hands shoot up on both sides, un pointed down at him from the middle of the dark staircase "Jesus! Scared the shit out of un

He points at the sh there," he whispers "There’s another way into the base That door links the sides"

"Did you see anyone?"

"No, not a soul" He coht"

"No, it doesn’t," I say

"Where’s Faust?"

"He came in this way ahead of me Where he is now I don’t know"