She nodded tersely. "Hurry. Backup security arriving in four minutes."
We piled into the transport, Redmon barely fitting in the reinforced rear compartment. As Maya accelerated away from the facility, I turned to Redmon, questions tumbling over each other.
"How did you escape? How did you find me?"
His big hand engulfed mine. "The data chip you were given. Maya managed to get it to me after they moved you. It contained override codes for the security systems, facility maps, everything we needed."
"But your restraints… "
A grim smile crossed his face. "They underestimated mapinguari strength when properly motivated."
I leaned against him, exhaustion and relief washing over me in equal measure. "Where are we going?"
"North," Maya answered from the driver's seat. "To the resistance. There are others like you as matched pairs who escaped, who are fighting back."
"Others?" Selene asked, her voice small.
Maya nodded. "Dozens. And they need people like you as healers, warriors, those who understand what Magnus Terra is really doing."
I looked up at Redmon, seeing in his eyes the same determination I felt growing in my heart. They matched us against our will, forced together by those who saw us as mere genetic material. But what had grown between us with the trust, the understanding, the beginnings of something deeper, that was ours alone.
"We'll fight," I said simply, my hand tightening around his.
His arm pulled me closer, protective and sure.
As the transport carried us away from captivity toward an uncertain future, I realized that Magnus Terra's greatest miscalculation wasn't in our genetics or their security protocols. It was in forcing together two people who, once united, would become their most formidable enemies.
Twelve
Redmon
The first guard never saw me coming.
I moved through the shadows of the facility corridor, a silent ghost despite my massive bulk. The humans relied too heavily on their technology with motion sensors, cameras, automated locks. None of which worked properly after I'd smashed the main control panel.
My claws sliced through the guard's weapon before he could raise the alarm, the metal parting like cloth beneath my strength. His eyes widened in terror as I lifted him by his uniform collar, bringing his face close to mine.
"Where are they keeping the human woman brought in today?" I growled, my voice low enough that only he could hear.
"S-section C, containment room 3," he stammered, the fragrance of his fear sharp in my nostrils. "Please don't… ”
I pressed a pressure point at the base of his neck, a technique my father had taught me long ago. The guard slumped unconscious in my grasp. I lowered him gently to the floor, no need for unnecessary death.
The facility's emergency lights cast everything in a pulsing red glow, perfect for my night vision but disorienting for the humans. Alarms blared intermittently, but the evacuation protocols I'd triggered had most staff running toward the exits rather than toward me.
I moved deeper into the complex, my mind flashing back to the hours after Kalyndi's capture.
"They took her." Selene's voice had been tight with fear as she burst into our dwelling. "Magnus Terra officials, with tribal enforcers. They said it was for routine testing, but they had restraints, Redmon. They hurt her when she resisted."
Ice had formed in my veins. "When?"
"Less than an hour ago. They headed toward the central facility."
I'd moved immediately, grabbing weapons and the emergency pack we'd prepared. "Stay here. Bar the doors."
"I'm coming with you," Selene had insisted, her jaw set in the same stubborn line I recognized in her sister.
"No. I need you to do something more important." I'd gripped her shoulders gently. "Contact Elder Marok. Tell him 'Protocol Ancestral.' He'll understand."
