CHAPTER 8
Ariana pov
The heavy vault door at the top of the stairs creaked open. I expected a dungeon, or perhaps a room filled with torturing equipment and a very uncomfortable chair.
Instead, the guards pushed me into a hallway. It didn't really looking like a hallway; it was more of a gallery of modern minimalism and high-end paranoia.
The walls were a seamless, matte charcoal gray, lit by recessed floor lights that made the whole place look like it was floating.
No paintings. No dust. Just a terrifying amount of reinforced glass and sensors that blinked with a red heartbeat every few feet.
"Nice place," I muttered, my eyes darting from the ceiling corners to the floor seams. "A bit 'villain-chic,' but the lighting is doing wonders for your complexion, Scar-face."
The guard with the jagged neck didn't even grunt. He just shoved me forward. We walked deeper into the belly of the beast.
