The sound of an empty chamber is the loudest noise in the world.
Click.
It echoed through the crypt, a final punctuation mark to Senator Sterling’s career.
Sterling stared at the gun in his hand, his expression crumbling from rage into a hollow, jagged disbelief. He squeezed the trigger again. Click. And again. Click.
"You're out of time, Senator," I whispered, my voice trembling not with fear, but with the sheer, overwhelming weight of victory.
The wail of the sirens grew deafening. Heavy boots thundered on the gravel outside. This wasn't the polite knock of the Aethelgard Police Department. This was the rhythmic, unstoppable march of federal intervention.
"Drop the weapon!" a voice amplified by a loudspeaker commanded. "Federal Agents! Drop it now!"
Sterling didn't drop it. He loo
