The Architect’s End

The sound was deafening. A crack of thunder contained in a box.

Blue light exploded from the panel, arcing over Luca’s body. He screamed—a sound of pure, white-hot agony as the electricity coursed through his muscles, seizing every nerve, boiling his blood.

He held on. He forced his hands to stay on the wires, his body arching rigidly.

The lights in the room died. The red emergency strobes flared.

* CLUNK.*

The heavy steel door hissed. The mag-locks disengaged. The door slid open three feet.

Luca fell back. He hit the floor, smoke rising from his chest. His hands were blackened ruins. His heart had stopped.

"Luca!" Camilla screamed.

She scrambled toward the door. She breathed in the rush of fresh air from the hallway.

She stopped. She looked back.

Luca lay still in the red flashing light. His eyes were open, staring at nothing.

"No," Camilla sobbed. She crawled back to him. She grabbed his shoulders. "Luca, get up! Get up!"

He was gone. The monster who had loved her. The protector who had killed her brother to save her.

"Ten seconds!" Dante’s voice echoed, distorted now by the power failure. "Running out of time, darling!"

Camilla looked at the door. It was starting to slide shut.

She looked at Luca’s face. She kissed his forehead, tasting the ash.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

She turned and ran.

She threw herself through the gap in the door just as it slammed shut with a bone-shaking thud, sealing Luca Vesperi inside his own tomb.