Damien's words hung in the air, a cold whisper against the weight of Calloway's death.
Elias didn't let go of the kid just yet. "What do you mean, you know what the cipher unlocks?"
Damien swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I—I was helping Professor Calloway with research on The Codex Noctis." His voice trembled, but his eyes darted toward the desk, toward the book Elias had found. "Last week, he called me in late — said he'd found something. He was excited at first, but then…" His voice dropped. "Then he got scared."
Evelyn crossed her arms. "Scared of what?"
Damien shook his head. "I don't know. But he told me if anything happened to him, I had to come here and find his notes. He said the cipher wasn't just a code — it was a map."
Elias frowned. "A map to what?"
Damien hesitated. "A door."
Silence.
Evelyn's brow furrowed. "A door?"
Damien nodded. "Not a normal one. Something hidden. He said The Codex Noctis wasn't just a book — it was a key to whatever's on the other side." His voice dropped lower. "And that's why people were after it."
Elias processed this quickly, the puzzle pieces rearranging themselves in his mind. Mercer had stolen the book. He'd found something inside. A hidden cipher, a warning. Then he disappeared. Now Calloway was dead.
And if Damien was right, then the book wasn't valuable just for its words.
It was valuable because of where it led.
Elias looked at the body slumped over the desk. Calloway had been killed for what he knew. And if they weren't careful, they'd be next.
"Did Calloway tell you where the door is?"
Damien shook his head, but his hands fumbled in his coat pocket. "No. But—" He pulled out a folded scrap of paper and handed it to Elias. "—he gave me this."
Elias unfolded it carefully. Inside was a crude, hand-drawn sketch — symbols from the cipher arranged in a pattern. But it wasn't just random.
It was a layout.
A blueprint.
A hidden passageway.
Evelyn leaned in. "That… looks like a floor plan."
Damien nodded. "Calloway figured out that the symbols weren't just letters. They were coordinates. Directions. He said the door was somewhere in the city."
Elias narrowed his eyes at the sketch. The shape of the blueprint was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. A twisting hallway, an archway marked with more symbols — one of them circled in ink.
The answer was right in front of them.
Then the lights flickered.
Elias immediately tensed.
Evelyn turned toward the door, her hand hovering near her bag. "That's not normal."
The air in the office shifted. Heavy. Like a pressure drop before a storm.
Then—
A click.
Not from inside.
From the hallway.
Elias reacted instantly, snuffing out the desk lamp with one hand while pulling Damien and Evelyn down with the other. They crouched low as the shadows stretched across the floor, movement just beyond the doorframe.
Not footsteps.
Something slower.
Someone was waiting.
Elias drew his revolver.
A long breath passed.
Then the door creaked open — just an inch.
No footsteps.
No words.
Just silence.
A bead of sweat rolled down Damien's temple.
Elias steadied his aim. Whoever was on the other side wasn't here to talk.
He exhaled once.
Then he moved.