There was a reason Marcellus was reminded of his days as a Templar when entering the hall but those suspicions were confirmed now. This place was an old bunker from the early days of Caelum before Urbium became the towering metropolis that it was. Somehow Miracle had found it and repurposed it as their base of operations.

He stood on the catwalk and looked out into the open space. Shelves covered the walls filled with weapons and supplies. Desks populated the center on top of which sat papers, photographs, maps and hastily eaten and forgotten meals. In the far left corner was a hive of monitors and computers. In the far right corner was what looked to be a makeshift machinery workshop. Cots and bedding lay in an adjacent room inset to the right wall with only a large curtain to separate it from the main room. A door against the right wall between the sleep area and the stairs led to the bathrooms and showers. Stairs leading downward lay to his left and a lift to his right. The lift was stuck midway and looked to be no longer operational. Above his head was pipes and wires crisscrossing every which way the mess of which was broken by the occasional vent.

Marcellus wondered how long they have been operating out of this place. How was it possible that Caelum did not know about it? Abandoned and forgotten during the upheaval? Were they that lucky or was there more to it?

“Yo, pretty boy.” Tivon did not give further warning before tossing a box at Marcellus.

Deftly catching the box, he opened it up and saw that it was filled with coins. He opened it and fingered each piece as he counted. His brows met in a slight grimace. “There’s foreign currency in here.”

“Money is money,” Tivon said leaning against one of the tables and crossing his arms. His tail flicked about, his annoyance clear to see.

Marcellus swung his tail, gritted his teeth, and flattened his ears against his head. “Some way to conduct business.”

“If you don’t like it, pound dirt,” Tivon said dismissively. “But if it doesn’t ruffle your fur too much, there’s more where that came from.” Tivon walked off to where Declan sat at the hive of computers.

“Our business is concluded. I think I’ll be taking my leave now,” Marcellus said, turning back towards the door.

Tivon let out a humorless laugh. “Yea, of course. Big shot’s too good for our money. It’s not like we are trying to save the planet or anything.”

“That’s none of my concern,” Marcellus responded flatly.

Tivon snapped a look of fury in his direction. Ava saw what was going to happen but was a moment too late to hold him back. He took two running strides and leapt into the air, landing on the catwalk in front of Marcellus and hit the wall behind him. “I knew there was something I couldn’t stand about you. Right from the start.” He took a step and pointed at the wolf with a curved, upward turned finger. “It’s that look on your face. Like nothin’ in the world matters. As though you could watch it go on or burn down around you and you couldn’t give two shits about it.”

Marcellus just stared back unfazed by this sudden outburst of aggression. “Why should I care what happens?”

Growling, Tivon’s hands tensed into claw. He looked about ready to attack Marcellus who was slowly reaching behind his back for his maul.