“I c’n walk,” he slurs, the words muddled with his fatigue.
He tries to push off my chest, but the attempt fizzles out immediately and he sags deeper into my hold. His head lolls against my shoulder as his body surrenders.
His breath evens out against my neck, and the tension bleeds from his frame now that he’s off his feet. I adjust my grip, one arm under his knees, the other supporting his back, and shake my head at his stubbornness.
“What’s the best route out of here?” I ask.
Sakane takes the lead with Ego while Cato stays behind me, watching our backs.
“Stairs,” Sakane says as we push through the same door we used on our way up.
I groan inwardly at the memory of the seven flights we climbed. They’ll be worse with the hundred and eighty pounds that’s currently deadweight in my arms, and my legs are already unsteady from the fight.
“I can carry him,” Cato offers, and it sounds sincere.
I shake my head and pull Xeni closer. “No. I need to do this.”
Cato nods and resumes his watch behind us as we rush down the stairs. When we reach the main floor, the guard’s body rests against the wall where we left it, but instead of heading out the way we came, we continue lower into the basement.
Ego has been collecting keycards from the guards as we took them down. She swipes a couple of them before the door buzzes and the deadbolt releases with a click.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask.
She nods as she gestures for us to continue, motioning ahead with a flick of her wrist. “Sakane and I have been studying the blueprints. There’s a sewer access at the far end of this corridor.”
“Can we get in?”
Ego nods again, glancing between the two hallways that diverge at the end of the room, already mapping escape routes in her head. She leads us to the right, digging something silver and shiny from her pocket and holding it up with a triumphant little wiggle.
“This is the key to the entrance. I’m really hoping they won’t even remember it’s there—y’know, classic military efficiency. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“And if they do?” Cato questions, voice flat with that perpetual skepticism.
Sakane shrugs, a half-smile emerging from the stress on his face. “According to my source, only utility workers have access. I guess we’ll see.”
Ego snorts. “If not, we improvise. Worst case, we charm our way out. My smile is hypnotic.”
Cato rolls his eyes. “Your smile melts brains.”
“Even better,” she fires back with a wink. “Brains control the hands that hold the guns, and our resident puppet master is out for the count.”
Everyone glances at Xeni, but he’s quiet in my arms.
Ego flashes him an affectionate smile, then steers us down the hallway. “Through here,” she instructs.
We pass through an ancient boiler room, then hurry towards a nondescript gray door tucked into a corner. It’s covered in a blanket of grime and cobwebs, and Ego is careful not to disturb the dust as she unlocks it.
Xeni groans in my arms as we step through into the dim tunnel. “Stinks,” he mutters.
I cough a quiet laugh despite the tension. “I think you can deal with it for a little while, princess.”
He nuzzles back into my chest with a grunt, and I glance over my shoulder as the others enter. Ego follows last, then turns to lock the door behind us.
Before it closes, sirens blare into the night.
They’re so loud they seem to come from every direction at once. Ego’s mouth moves in a curse as she slams the door. It muffles the alarms but doesn’t silence them, which means they aren’t coming from the building.
They’re being broadcast across the city.
