The Black Lantern was the kind of bar that had seen better days. The neon sign flickered like it was on its last breath, and the door creaked like it had a secret to tell. Inside, the air was thick with cigarette smoke, cheap whiskey, and the weight of stories no one wanted to remember.
Elias stepped inside, shaking the rain off his coat. The place was nearly empty, except for a few lost souls nursing their regrets at the bar. But he wasn't here for them.
He was here for Devlin Kade.
In his prime, Kade had been the best detective the city had ever seen. A legend. The kind of man who could read a crime scene like poetry. But that was years ago—before he walked away, before the city chewed him up and spat him out.
Now, he was just another ghost haunting the corner booth, a glass of bourbon his only company.
Elias slid into the seat across from him. "Still drinking that overpriced swill, old man?"
Kade didn't look up. Just took a slow sip before setting his glass down with a deliberate clink. "And you're still chasing death, Voss." His voice was a rasp, the kind that came from too many late nights and too many bad memories. "You got five minutes."
Elias pulled the folded blueprint from his coat. "I need your eyes on this."
Kade's fingers, still steady despite the years, unfolded the paper. His sharp, grey eyes scanned the symbols, the twisted corridors, the circled archway.
He exhaled slowly. "Where the hell did you get this?"
"Professor Calloway. He's dead."
Kade's gaze flicked up. There was no shock—just understanding. "And now you're next."
"Not if I get there first," Elias said. "You recognize the layout?"
Kade leaned back, rubbing his jaw. "It's old. Real old. But yeah… I've seen something like this before." He tapped the paper. "This right here? It's part of the Obscura Tunnels."
Elias frowned. "The what?"
Kade sighed. "A network of underground passageways, built before half this city even existed. Rumors say they were used for everything—bootlegging, smuggling, maybe worse. Most of them were sealed up or collapsed decades ago." He pointed to the circled archway. "But this—this isn't just a tunnel." He leaned in, lowering his voice. "It's a vault."
Elias felt the weight of the word settle between them.
"What kind of vault?"
Kade shook his head. "No one knows for sure. The stories are all different—some say it's a burial chamber, others say it's a hidden treasury, maybe even something occult. But the one thing they all agree on?" He met Elias's gaze. "It's not meant to be opened."
Elias smirked. "That so?"
Kade didn't smile back. "I'm serious, kid. If you go down there, you better be ready. Because the kind of people who built this?" He gestured at the blueprint. "They don't leave doors unlocked without a damn good reason."
Elias folded the paper and slipped it back into his coat. "Appreciate the warning."
Kade sighed, then reached for his bourbon. "Yeah, well… warnings don't mean much to dead men."
Elias stood. "Good thing I'm not dead yet."
As he walked out into the rain, he could still feel Kade's eyes on his back.
The old wolf knew something.
Something Elias wasn't sure he wanted to learn the hard way.
But it was too late for second thoughts.
Beneath the city, something was waiting.
And he was going to find it.