Chapter 35

• I couldn't stop shaking, my fingers locked into the fabric of Joaquin’s shirt as the heavy, tearful apologies kept spilling past my lips.
• Without a word, Joaquin slid one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back, effortlessly lifting me up into his arms. I buried my face against his chest, clutching onto him tightly as he carried me out of the blood-soaked vault and into the dimly lit concrete hallway.
• As we rounded the corner toward the main exit, we crossed paths with Javier and Janus. The two brothers looked like they had just walked out of a slaughterhouse. They were both breathing heavily, but instead of looking traumatized, they were casually chatting and chuckling as if they had just finished a recreational game of paintball rather than a bloody firefight.