The door opened slowly.
A man stepped inside.
He wore a dark uniform with a small silver emblem on his chest.
Two more men stood behind him.
Mara pulled the boys closer.
Adrian didn't move.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The man looked around the room.
Then his eyes landed on the three boys.
"There they are."
Kade whispered,
"I don't like him."
Kane quietly answered,
"Neither do I."
The man smiled.
"You don't need to be afraid."
Adrian laughed once.
"That's what people say when they want someone to stop running."
The man's expression hardened.
"Adrian Vale."
"So you know my name."
"We know a lot more than that."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Then you know this is private property."
The man glanced around.
"Not anymore."
He raised his hand.
The two men behind him moved.
Mara immediately pushed the boys toward the back of the room.
"Go."
Kane looked at her.
"What about you?"
"Go!"
Kade grabbed Kian.
"Come on."
They ran.
Adrian moved at the same time.
One of the men reached for his weapon.
Adrian struck his wrist.
The weapon fell.
The second man rushed forward.
Adrian ducked beneath his arm and shoved him into the wall.
The room erupted into chaos.
Kane pulled Kade and Kian toward a narrow hallway.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know."
Kade looked around.
"That's helpful."
"Just move."
They reached a metal staircase.
Kian looked back.
"Mama!"
She was still near the main room.
"Mama!"
Mara heard him.
"Keep going!"
"But—"
"GO!"
Kane grabbed Kian's hand.
"We'll come back."
They ran upstairs.
Behind them, something crashed.
Kade looked back.
Adrian was fighting two men at once.
He moved differently from the way Kane had expected.
Not wild.
Not angry.
Controlled.
He didn't waste movement.
One man swung.
Adrian stepped aside.
The other attacked.
Adrian caught his arm and used his momentum to throw him across the room.
Kade stared.
"He's good."
Kane nodded.
"Very."
A third man entered.
Adrian saw him.
"More?"
The man raised a weapon.
Adrian's expression changed.
"Kane!"
Kane looked down from the staircase.
"Get your brothers out!"
The weapon fired.
The sound exploded through the building.
Kade screamed.
Kian froze.
Kane looked toward Adrian.
Adrian had fallen.
"Adrian!"
Kane started down the stairs.
Kade grabbed him.
"Don't!"
"He's hurt!"
"We have to go!"
Kane pulled away.
Then Adrian stood.
He looked down at his jacket.
A bullet had torn through the fabric.
Blood wasn't visible.
The man with the weapon stared.
"What?"
Adrian slowly removed his jacket.
Underneath was a thick protective vest.
He smiled.
"You really thought I'd build a safe house without one?"
Kade stared.
"He's crazy."
Kane almost smiled.
"Maybe."
Adrian grabbed the man's weapon and knocked him unconscious.
Then he looked toward the boys.
"Move!"
They ran.
At the top of the stairs, they found a corridor with three doors.
Kane opened the first.
A bathroom.
Second.
A storage room.
Third.
Locked.
Kade looked at him.
"Great."
Footsteps thundered up the stairs.
Kian's breathing became faster.
"They're coming."
Kane looked around.
There was nowhere to go.
Kade pulled at the locked door.
"Open!"
"It's locked."
"I know!"
"Then stop pulling it."
"I'm thinking!"
Kane looked at Kian.
"Kian."
Kian shook his head.
"No."
"You need to try."
"I can't control it."
"You don't have to."
"What does that mean?"
Kane pointed toward the door.
"Just get through."
Kian stared at it.
The footsteps grew louder.
Kade whispered,
"Come on, Kian."
Kian placed both hands against the door.
He closed his eyes.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
The first man reached the top of the stairs.
"There!"
Kane stepped in front of his brothers.
The man raised his weapon.
"Don't make this difficult."
Kane stared at him.
"Leave my brothers alone."
The man smiled.
"You don't understand what's happening."
"No."
Kane's expression hardened.
"But I understand enough."
The man raised his weapon.
Then Kian disappeared.
Kane turned.
"Kian?"
Kian's voice came from the other side of the locked door.
"Open it!"
Kade's eyes widened.
"You're inside?"
"Yes!"
"How?"
"I don't know!"
Kane grabbed the door handle.
It opened.
Kian stood inside the storage room.
There was another door at the far end.
Kane understood.
"Move!"
They rushed inside.
Kian pointed.
"There's another exit."
They ran through it.
They emerged behind the building.
Cold air hit their faces.
Kade laughed nervously.
"We did it."
Kane grabbed his arm.
"Keep moving."
They ran.
Behind them, men shouted.
Mara came through the door moments later with Adrian.
"Where are they?"
Kane shouted,
"Here!"
Mara ran toward them.
She pulled all three boys into her arms.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Adrian came out behind her.
He looked at the building.
"We can't stay here."
Mara nodded.
"Where do we go?"
Adrian looked at the city.
"I know somewhere."
Kade groaned.
"Another hiding place?"
Adrian smiled.
"Hopefully the last one."
They moved through the industrial district until the buildings became fewer.
Eventually, they reached an old underground railway tunnel.
The entrance was hidden behind a rusted metal gate.
Kade looked at it.
"You're taking us underground?"
"For now."
"Why?"
"Because they won't look there."
They entered.
The tunnel stretched deep beneath the city.
Their footsteps echoed.
After several minutes, they reached an old maintenance room.
Adrian opened the door.
Inside was a small emergency shelter.
Food.
Water.
Blankets.
Medical supplies.
Mara looked at him.
"You've prepared all this."
"Yes."
"For years?"
Adrian nodded.
"Why?"
He looked at the three boys.
"Because I knew one day someone would come looking for them."
Kane stared at him.
"You knew?"
"Not exactly."
"What did you know?"
Adrian sat down.
"I knew Elias was working on something."
"What?"
Adrian looked at Mara.
She shook her head.
But Kane had already noticed.
"You both know."
Mara looked away.
Kane's voice became firmer.
"What was Dad working on?"
Adrian was silent.
Then he reached into his pocket.
He removed a small black object.
It looked like a piece of metal.
He placed it on the table.
"This belonged to your father."
Kian stepped closer.
"What is it?"
"We don't know."
Kade touched it.
Nothing happened.
Kane picked it up.
Still nothing.
Then Kian touched it.
The object suddenly lit up.
Everyone froze.
A thin blue light appeared across its surface.
Lines began forming.
A map.
Adrian stood immediately.
"That's impossible."
Mara stared at the object.
She had seen that symbol before.
Kane looked at her.
"Mama?"
She didn't answer.
The map expanded.
Three points appeared.
One near the city.
One far beyond it.
And one...
directly beneath them.
Kade looked down.
"Why is there a mark under us?"
Adrian's face had gone pale.
"Because..."
He stared at the glowing map.
"...this isn't a map of the city."
The underground room became silent.
Kian looked at him.
"Then what is it?"
Adrian slowly turned toward the tunnel outside.
"It's a map of something underneath the city."
A deep sound suddenly echoed through the tunnel.
Boom.
Everyone froze.
Another sound.
Boom.
Something was moving underground.
Mara grabbed the boys.
Adrian reached for his weapon.
Kade whispered,
"What is that?"
Adrian stared into the darkness.
"I don't know."
Boom.
The walls trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then the strange object on the table began glowing brighter.
The three points on the map connected.
A fourth symbol appeared.
Adrian's eyes widened.
"No..."
Kane looked at him.
"What?"
Adrian stared at the symbol.
He had seen it once before.
Years ago.
In the last message Elias ever sent him.
Adrian whispered,
"Your father wasn't running from them."
He looked at the three brothers.
"He was trying to keep them from finding this."
The tunnel shook violently.
And something enormous moved in the darkness beneath them.
End of Chapter Eight