Dave leaned against the hood of the car, arms crossed, watching Elias with a smirk.
"You sure you can handle this?" he asked. "That wasn't a normal bullet they put in you."
Elias exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulder. The pain was still there—sharp, persistent—but he'd been through worse.
"That ain't enough to kill me," he muttered, eyes hardening. "Let's go meet your crazy people."
Dave chuckled. "Suit yourself."
The drive was long, winding through the forgotten veins of the city. Streets gave way to empty roads, neon lights faded into rusted streetlamps. By the time they reached their destination, the rain had turned into a cold mist, clinging to the abandoned warehouses like ghosts that refused to leave.
Dave parked in front of a crumbling building—cracked bricks, shattered windows, the kind of place people pretended didn't exist.
"Stay close," he said, stepping out.
Elias and Evelyn followed as Dave led them through a rusted side door, down a flight of creaking stairs, and into a hidden chamber buried beneath the city.
The air was thick with the scent of old paper, candle wax, and gunpowder. Shadows danced along stone walls, cast by dim, flickering lanterns.
Two figures waited inside.
The first, Elias recognized immediately—Jonas Brooks. A former detective, built like a brawler, his trench coat still carrying the grime of the streets. Jonas had once been one of the best, before the job chewed him up and spit him out. Now, he worked in the shadows—the places the law wouldn't dare follow.
But it was the second figure who made Elias hesitate.
A woman draped in a long black coat, her hands gloved, her pale eyes sharp and unsettling. A silver pendant hung around her neck, etched with strange, unfamiliar symbols.
Dave gestured toward her.
"This is Lucien Grave. The occultist."
Lucien tilted her head, studying Elias like a puzzle already halfway solved.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," she said, voice smooth as silk.
Elias frowned. "You know me?"
Lucien smiled faintly. "Not yet. But I know your path."
A strange chill slid down Elias's spine.
Jonas scoffed, arms crossed. "Enough cryptic nonsense. We need to talk."
Elias nodded, pulse steady despite the unease tightening in his gut.
He'd followed the trail this far.
Now, it was time to find out just how deep it went.