Rot. Old blood. Decay that had been sealed behind walls long enough to become abstract.
Voss took the second one that stumbled into view from the right, snapping its neck with a movement that was almost bored in its familiarity. Ivan dispatched a third with a clean stab through the skull that did not waste motion.
Felicity watched all of it.
Not to admire.
To remember.
Damien glanced down at her. "Still with me."
"Yes," she said quietly.
He nodded once, approving the steadiness.
They moved fast, not because anyone chased them, but because lingering near a city gate was always a mistake. Sound traveled. Blood traveled. The dead followed.
Once they cleared two blocks and reached the broken highway that angled toward the outskirts, Victor slowed. He looked back once, toward the city.
No one was pursuing.
Not yet.
Maybe not at all.
"That's it," Legend said softly, and Felicity realised he had come out with them too, along with Kai and Pope. "We just… walked out."
