Was she hallucinating?
The figure pulled back the hood of her sweatshirt, revealing blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and blue eyes on a delicate face.
“Hi!” Arabella announced.
Augustine sat up, wincing. “Our ride is here.”
Diana pivoted to him.
He smiled at her.
“How?” she squeezed out.
“He called me two hours ago,” Arabella told her, walking over. “He said to extract the two of you if he didn’t text or call by eight. This is me extracting.” She shook out her right hand and rubbed her knuckles.
How? How did she get through the wall? She hadn’t transformed. Had shepunchedit?
The youngest Baylor took in the blood, bandages, and the red-stained towel on Augustine’s stomach. “I have medical on standby. They are ten minutes down the road for plausible deniability. Also, Bern is wiping Woodward’s servers as we speak. Before you say anything, we will forward you a copy of the data dump. Discreetly, of course. Did I do good?”
“You did well,” Augustine said. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised.
The fractured picture came together in Diana’s head. He hadn’t wanted to involve MII, and she hadn’t wanted to involve her House because of legal liabilities. If either of them had mobilized their forces, it would’ve been noticed, and once the aftermath of their assault on the compound was discovered, questions would follow.
If the Baylors or Rogans mobilized their forces, someone would have noted that as well, but nobody would even think to connect a single young woman to a massive hole in Woodward’s compound. Arabella Baylor was a neutral third party. She kept a very low profile. Her short absence from the Baylors’ compound would be easy to explain away. Once her cousin destroyed the surveillance data, nobody would ever know how Woodward died.
Augustine knew, Diana realized. He knew the whole time that a rescue was coming, and he let her think they were dying.She had told him everything. For a moment she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or mortified.
“We’re all good!” Arabella called.
A second figure in a hoodie marched through the hole, this person slightly taller and more broadly built. She pulled her hood back, looked around, taking in the rows of cages. She put her hands on her hips and frowned. “This is one fucked-up zoo.”
“Is that who I think it is?” Augustine asked.
“This is Tia Madero,” Arabella said. “I thought I might need backup. Oh my God, what is that? Is that Zeus’ baby?”
“What is your plan for the blood and DNA?” Augustine said.
“The biological cleanup crew.” Arabella pointed to the cages with the animals. “They are very good at destroying blood. I brought a specialist to help.”
A third person ran through the hole, a child with dark hair and a worried look on her face.
“Matilda,” Diana breathed. “No…”
Her niece saw her. Matilda’s brown eyes widened. “Aunt Diana!”
Kitty turned, her eyes fixed on Matilda.
Diana saw her niece stop in mid-step. A thin ribbon of magic brushed over Diana’s senses. She tried to shout a warning, but it was too late. The two children saw each other, and she was powerless to stop it.
Matilda opened her mouth. A beautiful soft song spilled out, a wordless note that soared like a bright hymn fighting against the brutal cruelty of the bunker. The tigrionex cub snarled, echoing it. An eerie purple light shivered around Kitty’s neck, the beginnings of tentacle tendrils, still too short to be noticed with the naked eye, glowing with arcane radiance.
The song faded, and Matilda’s voice came forth, otherworldly and suffused with power.
“The pact is made.”
EPILOGUE
The hospital bed was surprisingly comfortable, Augustine reflected. But then, considering the amount of money he spent on MII’s infirmary, that was to be expected.
