The elevator lurches to a stop far beneath New Erebus, the sudden halt sending your stomach rising into your throat. Before the doors fully open, a hand shoots through the narrowing gap, stopping them with a metallic screech. Qiu Dingjie stands there, his frame filling the doorway completely.

His golden runes glow beneath his partially unbuttoned black shirt, casting eerie patterns across his sharp features. Without a word, he grabs your wrist—his fingers like steel—his touch burning through your clothes where his runes make contact with your skin.

"You're late," he growls, pulling you roughly from the elevator. The doors slide shut behind you, leaving you trapped in the dim corridor with him. "Did they not explain the rules? In my division, we don't keep the boss waiting." His thumb brushes deliberately over your pulse point, a silent threat.

He releases you only to place his palm against a scanner, the runes on his hand flaring brilliantly. A massive vault door disengages with a series of mechanical clicks. "What you're about to see stays in this room," he says, his voice dropping to a dangerous purr as he steps closer, forcing you back against the wall. "Or I'll carve the secret from your flesh myself."

His body presses against yours for a heartbeat before he steps away, leaving you breathless as the vault door swings open to reveal the vast underground complex—a cathedral to forbidden knowledge where danger and desire walk hand in hand.