Ampelius forced a breath into his lungs, fighting back the rising tide of panic. His chest clenched, every inhale clogged with dust. He couldn’t lose his head, not now, but his focus was slipping, and with it, their chances of survival.

  He scanned the collapsing stairwell, eyes darting around for any opening, any path that wasn’t already choked by rubble. The air pressed down like a physical weight, getting heavier as the groan of failing beams and the thunder of distant blasts roared on.

  Bella clutched the railing beside him, her eyes wide with hysteria. He couldn’t let her see his fear, not when hers was already spilling over.

  “Hold it together,” he muttered under his breath, jaw tight. “We still have a way out. We just have to find it.”

  Ampelius noticed a window above them, although it was too high to reach, and far too dangerous to risk at this height. The thought died as quickly as it came.

  He looked down instead, studying the wreck of the stairwell below. The jagged beams jutted out over a yawning gap, while the landing to the third floor was buried in a mess of splintered wood and shattered stone. No way through there, not without snapping bones.

  The walls of the building sounded like they're breathing its last as dust trembled loose with every shudder, and the narrow passage seemed to close in tighter, squeezing them toward the inevitable. They were trapped. The realization threatened to unravel his focus as another violent tremor rattled the structure, the crash of falling plaster echoing through the stairwell.

  Just as his hope began to fade, Ampelius noticed something, the haze of dust and smoke in the stairwell was thinning, being swept aside as a breeze came through. The gap he’d written off before didn’t look quite as hopeless now. Through the clearing air, the floor below stood out more clearly, battered but still intact. What had seemed like a death drop only moments ago now looked survivable.

  “This is manageable,” he muttered to himself, a glimmer of hope reigniting within him.

  “What is?” Bella asked, her voice tight with anxiety.

  “The next floor,” Ampelius said, nodding toward the now-visible landing below. “It’s not as far down as I thought. We could jump down onto it and escape from there.”

  Bella hesitated, edging closer to the gap. She peered down, her eyes widening as she judged the distance. “Are you serious? We’d break our legs! A broken leg might as well mean death,” she protested, her voice trembling.

  “What other choice do we have? This building is coming apart. If we stay here, we’re dead!” Ampelius shot back. “We have to try. If we hang off the edge first, it’ll shorten the drop. We can do this, Bella.”

  “There has to be another way. I don’t want to break my leg and end up trapped anyway. The pain would only slow us down,” she argued, shaking her head.

  “Damn it, Bella,” Ampelius growled, his frustration mounting. “If your stubbornness could get us out of here, we’d already be safe. But I'll jump first. If I’m still standing, I’ll help you down. But we can’t stay here.” He fought to keep his voice steady, knowing that any hint of doubt would only feed her fear.

  He looked at her, his eyes pleading. “Please, trust me. It’s our only chance.”

  “Oh, how noble of you. What if I refuse to jump?” Bella challenged.

  “Then your death is guaranteed,” Ampelius replied sharply. “And Emmett will have to live knowing that you died in this stairwell like a coward, crying and complaining the entire time. You’ll have had the chance to survive, but you chose death instead. And when he hears that, he’ll kill me, and I’ll join your little death party.”

  Bella’s eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t suppress a wry smile. “Fine. But if you die, I’m telling him you sacrificed yourself because you felt bad for the vultures circling this building.”

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  Ampelius chuckled, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “I’d love to feed those vultures,” he whispered, his grin widening.

  Bella sighed, bracing herself for the jump. “Alright, let’s do this. Just don’t go dying before me, okay?”

  “Deal. We’ll make it through this. Trust me,” Ampelius said, offering her a reassuring smile.

  Ampelius steadied himself at the edge, preparing to make the leap down. He whispered the count twice under his breath before counting down on the third for real. But, as he got to one, the world around him exploded. The blast slammed into him, throwing him off balance and backwards into a storm of dust of splintered wood. The stairwell itself groaned like a dying beast, while its beams twisted like bones ready to snap.

  Moments later, the floor beneath them split wide, cracks tearing through it in violent streaks. The walls followed suit, splitting open and shedding chunks of plaster and stone as the stairwell caved in around them. With a final shudder, the ground gave way, dropping them into the collapsing dark.

  They slammed into the floor below, the jolt rattling their bones and knocking the air from their lungs. For a moment, neither of them could move, just kept gasping for air. Above and around, the building roared, the structure collapsing in on itself like a cascade. Dust and smoke poured over them, choking their lungs until they were doubled over, hacking and coughing.

  After what felt like hours waiting for the building to end them, the crashing ceased, fading into a low rumble somewhere above. The air stayed thick with dust and smoke, but it began to settle and drift down. Ampelius squinted his eyes, but they burned with every blink. But against all odds, they were still in one piece, though sprawled on the stair landing below, which happened to be the only solid patch left standing in the collapse.

  Ampelius’ pulse began to steady, a sort of calm slipping in with the settling dust. The relief was brief, almost dangerous as his body begged for rest, but his mind knew better.

  He forced himself upright, teeth clenched against the ache in his limbs, and shoved bits of rubble off his chest. The stairwell to the floor below was still standing, narrow but passable, which provided a thin thread of escape in the ruin.

  Beside him, Bella let out a groan, her face tight with pain as she tried to move. Ampelius crawled to her to help, but his own body protested the movement.

  “Bella, you with me?” Ampelius rasped, his throat raw from dust.

  She gave the faintest nod, breath hitching. “Still here... barely. That was—hell, I don’t even know what that was.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said, grim but steady. “We’re not clear yet. We’ve got to move before this place buries us.”

  Ampelius carefully removed the chunks of debris covering her. “Are you sure you're okay? I think the stairwell to the floor below is still intact. So we should move before this building finishes what it started. We don’t have time to sit on our asses!” he urged.

  He pushed himself to his feet, as sharp pain flared up his back, but provided a hand toward Bella. She lingered on the ground, face twisted with pain, as if even the thought of standing was too much.

  “Don’t make me tell him you gave up down here,” Ampelius said, forcing a rough smirk, his voice trembling just enough to betray the fear underneath. “Up. Now.”

  Bella shot him a glare, but the corner of her mouth twitched. “Gods, you’re insufferable... vulture lover.” She let out a ragged breath, then slipped her hand into his.

  Bella clenched her jaw, swallowing a groan as Ampelius hauled her up. She sagged against him, legs shaking, with every step a fight in itself. Together they picked their way down the feeble stairwell, leaning on each other more than they wanted to admit.

  When they reached the next landing, both froze. The third floor wasn’t there anymore, it was just a yawning crater where it had been, the apartments swallowed whole.

  “Well, I suppose it's time to grow wings and fly out of this hell." Ampelius remarked.

  Bella, still leaning on him for support, took in the scene with wide eyes. “It looks like the outer walls are still standing,” she said, her voice filled with disbelief.

  Black smoke rose up from the hole, leaving the ruins for the night sky. It was strong enough to sting their eyes and burn in their throats. Now and then, they could see a flame lick through the rubble, throwing a faint glow across the ruins. The sight alone was strange, so unreal and far too close for comfort. Ampelius felt his stomach tighten as the truth sank in. A few feet either way, and they’d have been buried down there with the rest of it.

  The outer walls still held, and with them the stairwell clung stubbornly to the ruins, narrow but intact. Ampelius guided Bella down the next flight, each step creaking under their weight, ready to fall apart any second. Through the haze below, he caught a flicker of movement, something massive shifting in the smoke. He blinked hard, rubbed at his stinging eyes, and dismissed it as a trick of the light. There was no time to dwell; Bella needed his arm to stay upright.

  They made it to the second floor, but before Bella could steady herself, Ampelius let her slip from his hold. She hit the ground with a gasp, her face twisted in pain.

  “What the hell, Ampelius? Why’d you drop me?” she spat, wincing as she tried to push herself up.

  Ampelius didn’t answer. He stood frozen, his face gone pale, eyes locked on the void. Bella’s anger faltered into unease as she followed his gaze.

  Deep in the pit of the collapsed building sat a vast, unmoving shape. It gleamed faintly through the smoke, a massive shell-like machine, its form alien and out of place among the ruins.