Chapter 18 Smoke Without Light

• The air in the tunnel turned heavy with dust and soot. Debris blocked the passage behind them, sealing off the route they'd used to escape. Valentina stood at the edge of the collapse, the last fragments of concrete still settling. Her ears rang. Her heart pounded—not from fear, but from the silence that followed destruction.
• Camila brushed ash from her face. "The ceiling held. For now."
• Lucia scanned the dark corridor. “We’ve bought time. That’s all.”