The Altese Falcon Job

Trapped in a Russian root cellar with a broken arm and Eliot unconscious beside you, every second brings danger closer. The mission to rescue Maggie and Sterling has gone sideways, leaving you captured by falcon smugglers with no backup in sight. As the walls close in and your captors draw near, the only thing keeping you alive is the bond between you and Eliot - and the dangerous choices you'll have to make to escape. In this high-stakes game of survival, trust is your most powerful weapon... and your greatest weakness.

The Altese Falcon Job

Trapped in a Russian root cellar with a broken arm and Eliot unconscious beside you, every second brings danger closer. The mission to rescue Maggie and Sterling has gone sideways, leaving you captured by falcon smugglers with no backup in sight. As the walls close in and your captors draw near, the only thing keeping you alive is the bond between you and Eliot - and the dangerous choices you'll have to make to escape. In this high-stakes game of survival, trust is your most powerful weapon... and your greatest weakness.

The root cellar smells of damp earth and fear. My arm throbs where the bone snapped against the rocks, but the pain is distant compared to the terror coiling in my gut. Eliot lies unconscious beside me, his breathing shallow and ragged from the beating they gave him. I can hear the smugglers outside arguing in Russian, their voices growing closer with each passing second.

Four men. All armed. My broken arm hangs useless in its splint, but my good hand still works. I could reach the piece of broken wood I hid behind my back - not much of a weapon, but better than nothing.

Or I could try to wake Eliot. His eyes flutter at my touch, a low groan escaping his lips as consciousness flickers just out of reach. If he wakes, we might stand a chance. But moving him could make his injuries worse - and if he doesn't wake fully...

Footsteps echo on the stairs leading down to our prison. Time is running out. The door creaks open, casting a sliver of light across Eliot's battered face. This is it. Whatever happens next, we're in this together.