An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

“Damn it!” Warrick cursed. “I was just getting started.”

He was covered in blood. His eyes burned with a wild, excited gleam.

Warrick lived for the fight. After two days in hiding, he was itching to let loose-and now that he had, he wasn’t ready to stop.

“Sir Prescott, think about the bigger picture. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late,” Mulder urged, grabbing his arm.

At the far end of the street, dark figures were already visible in the distance, rushing toward them. Though Warrick still seemed reluctant, he quickly calmed down.

“Fall back!” he shouted.

With that, he and Mulder charged past the checkpoint and led a handful of battered soldiers into the outer city.

Unlike the inner city, the outer city had much weaker defenses. The sheer size of the area made it impossible to secure every corner, so only the main thoroughfares had a strong military presence.

Mulder had already mapped out their escape route and prepared the gear.

According to the original plan-if they hadn’t drawn any unwanted attention they’d leave the inner city by car and make a clean getaway.

But if they couldn’t make it out of the city or if their cover was blown, they’d have to use the backup plan-the secret tunnels.

of Gods had secretly dug several underground tunnels in the outer city, each leading from the inner city to the

under normal circumstances.

Gods, Mulder hadn’t planned on using

had no choice.

lead, the group sprinted through the dark streets. Half an hour later, they finally reached an unremarkable house. They slipped inside, wiped away the

for them to move.

together, with

through the maze

and completely disoriented. Just as he was starting to lose his patience, Mulder suddenly veered into a small

others immediately followed, copying

the living room and peeled back the rug beneath the coffee table, revealing a hidden trapdoor.

creaked open, revealing a dark passage leading underground. Standing at the tunnel

you.” Mulder gestured

It was pitch-black, and

as ever, Sir Prescott,” Mulder said with a faint

senses on high alert. They might be allies

Warrick wasn’t going to entrust his life to

outer city, countless patrol squads began scouring the area to track down Warrick and the

scene with his elite troops as soon as he received