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The first swing landed.

Stone rang under metal.

The sound cracked through the basement, sharp enough that Leo felt it in every part of himself. Dust sifted from the mortar and hung in the beams of the work lights.

Nothing else happened.

Nate lowered the sledge.

Leo stared at the pale mark it had left on the wall.

“Stop.”

The word was out before Leo knew he was going to say it.

Nate looked at him.

Leo’s hands had curled into fists.

“No,” Leo said quickly. “Don’t. I mean⁠—“

Get him out.

The thought came hard enough to drown out everything else.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s starting.”

“Okay.”

Leo braced, but Nate wasn’t doing anything. When he opened his eyes, Nate stood a few feet away, watching him, sledgehammer lowered.

“I didn’t say the stupid name,” Leo said.

“No.”

“Then why did you stop?”

“I’m just giving you a second.”

“I don’t need a second.”

That was a lie. Nate could give him all the seconds in the world and it wouldn’t be enough. It was Leo’s duty to protect this place, this wall, and nothing was going to change that.

Nobody comes down here.

Nate drew the hammer back.

“Get out,” Leo demanded.

The second swing hit.

The impact went through the basement floor and up Leo’s legs as if he’d been the one struck. Mortar cracked. A gray chip bounced off the concrete.

Somewhere overhead, a door slammed, and that seemed to rattle through Leo too. He didn’t have a beating heart, he knew that, but something inside him was hammering anyway.

Nate glanced at him.

“Keep going,” Leo said through his teeth.