Chapter 24 - A Shadow in the Archives
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The museum was closed, the heavy doors locked, and the vast halls plunged into darkness. I had stayed late in the archives to finish digitizing the final pages of the Obsidian Ledger. The quiet hum of the servers and the soft glow of my desk lamp were my only companions.
I took off my glasses, rubbing the bridge of my nose. My left eye ached slightly, a phantom twinge reminding me not to strain my vision in low light. I packed the ledger into its custom, climate-controlled preservation box and turned to secure it in the main vault.
As I stepped out of my office and into the darkened corridor, I heard it.
A sharp, metallic click from the direction of the service elevator.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. The museum security guard, a kind older man named Henry, was supposed to be at the front desk. He never used the service elevator at this hour.
I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, clutching the heavy box to my chest. The beam of a high-powered flashlight cut through the darkness at the end of the hall, sweeping methodically over the locked office doors.
Someone had broken in.
Panic, sharp and familiar, flared in my chest, threatening to pull me back to the night the Caldwells had attacked me. But I forced the memory down. I was not a victim anymore.
I slipped my phone from my pocket and blindly dialed my father's head of security, a man named Marcus, sending an emergency ping. Then, I closed my eyes, relying on the spatial awareness I had developed during the months I was nearly blind. I knew exactly how many steps it took to reach the hidden, reinforced secondary vault built into the floor of the rare books room.
I moved silently, my flat shoes making no sound against the marble. The intruder's footsteps grew closer, heavy and deliberate.
"Where is it?" a gruff voice muttered in the dark.
I slipped into the rare books room, sliding behind a massive oak bookshelf. I knelt on the floor, found the recessed handle of the floor safe, and quickly shoved the ledger box inside, spinning the combination lock just as the flashlight beam hit the doorway.
"Hey! Stop right there!" Henry’s voice suddenly boomed from down the hall, followed by the sound of a scuffle.
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The intruder cursed, abandoning the search, and heavy footsteps sprinted toward the fire exit. I stayed hidden until the overhead lights blazed to life and Marcus’s security team flooded the floor.
I walked out of the room, my hands shaking but my resolve entirely unbroken. The Sterlings had just escalated the war.
