Severance

33. 1809

My hands were clenched tightly at my sides, my eyes staring ahead of me while we drove through Paris. The car jumped and jilted here and there until we finally arrived at the steps of a library, old and bricked from centuries ago. My heartbeat had settled to a dull thumping against my ribs while my adrenaline took over. August tossed a look over his shoulder at me and my only response was to nod, a silent signal passing between us to let him know I'd be okay. I guess my nerves were just getting to me.

A figure at the top of the steps got to his feet, a man in his late twenties with dark auburn hair and a slim frame smiling while we approached. August jumped ahead and pulled him into a tight grip, the men passing a few French insults to each other before they finally acknowledged us. Renard was a gorgeous specimen, eyes as dark and lovely as emeralds glittering with mirth as he took Summer's hand and pressed his lips to her skin. The blush on her face was dark and she looked like she was having trouble keeping things professional.

"You must be Mina," he spoke as he approached me, taking my hand in the same manner, "it's an honor to meet a woman marked with the sigil of God, and to help you on your quest no less."

"Thank you Renard, but the pleasure is all mine," I told him as he straightened up, "this is our team, everyone's here. We need in and out but it's not any conventional trail we need to follow."

"Ouí, August has alerted me that this is a special mission," he admitted, "may I see the map?"

I produced the paper from my pocket and allowed him to glance over the map, his head nodding along as he followed the trail with his eyes. They narrowed at one point though and he lowered the map to point out one of the turns on the page.

"This tunnel is blocked off," he told me, "there may be another way around it but we won't know until we get down there."

"Shit," I hissed, "okay, we'll just improvise once we hit that point. There's nothing else we can really do."

"So, can you get us in?" Rowan asked, everyone's anxiety building a tension around the group.

"Of course I can get you in," Renard grinned, "have equipment?"

"All in here," Xavier hiked his bag higher up onto his shoulder to emphasize. Renard nodded, took a quick sweep of the streets around us, and motioned to follow.

Everyone fell into line behind the man as he slyly traversed a path beside the library, ducking through a break in a chain link fence before holding it open for the rest of us. Once inside we were surrounded by shrubbery but in the middle of the yard it seemed as if there was a manhole cover. Renard produced a rusted crowbar from the bushes and shoved it into the ground, utilizing August's strength to help pry it open. In just a few moments the cover was pushed aside and an awful stench emanated from the sewer below; Suzhe ducked behind Matt as she tried not to hurl and I simply buried my nose in the collar of my shirt.

"Ladies first," August winked, but Rowan kept me from stepping forward, descending into he depths first and making way for us to follow. Matt calmed Suzhe enough to get her down before following suit, Xavier stepping aside to let Summer and I go ahead of him. The moment my foot touched the first rung of a ladder though I was alerted to the sound of an incoming siren, something that prompted Renard to shout something in French that sounded like a command to hurry, so I did. I ended up slipping halfway down but luckily Rowan was there to catch me and lower me down onto the brick below.

"What's going on?" Suzhe asked.

"Sirens," I huffed as Xavier rushed down, August and Renard following closely after. Renard pushed the cover closed with his crowbar and left us all in complete darkness until Xavier pulled out our headlamps.