Bishop stiffened. “I mapped that facility.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “But your map is outdated.”
She reached into a drawer and slid a folded schematic across the table.
“They expanded downward,” she said. “Deeper into the old infrastructure. The aerosol dispersal system is no longer localized. It’s modular.”
Eamon leaned in, eyes scanning the page. “Meaning they can deploy it in multiple locations.”
“Yes,” Mirae said. “And they’ve improved the compound. Faster onset. Longer duration. Less degradation in open air.”
My stomach tightened. “So, the attacks we saw?—”
“Were tests,” she finished. “And successful ones at that.”
Nox’s jaw clenched. “Fucking miserable bastards.”
Eamon tapped the schematic. “If the aerosol has been refined this far, there must be a countermeasure.”
Mirae’s smile returned, thin and knowing. “I’ve heard some rumors of the existence of one, yes.”
“Are they true?” I asked.
“There is a serum,” she said. “They’ve been developing it very quietly. It reverses ferality completely. The early prototypes had some lasting side effects, but it seems as though they’ve worked past those.”
Bishop’s breath hitched. “You’re certain.”
“My people verified it,” she said. “Twice. On live subjects.”
Eamon’s voice was tight. “Then why hasn’t it been deployed?”
“Because it undermines the narrative,” Mirae said. “If wolves can be stabilized, then the problem isn’t an inevitability. And London does not want to have that conversation. This is simply their fail safe if anything goes wrong or the wrong people get dosed.”
I leaned back slowly. “So, there’s a cure… Or at least a treatment. And they’re sitting on it.”
“Yes.”
“And the lab producing it?” I asked.
“It’s in a different facility,” she said. “Smaller. Better hidden. It’s set in an old research campus just outside the city perimeter.”
She stood again and moved to the door, rapping twice. The inked girl appeared immediately.
“Prepare them for departure,” Mirae said. “Routes, documents, contacts. They move at dawn.”
The girl nodded and disappeared.
Mirae turned back to us. “You’ll leave here in ones and twos. I’ll place you where you need to be. From there, you rely on your network to get you where you need to go.”
She stood, smoothing her coat, and crossed the room. She didn’t go toward the door, but toward the fireplace, where she adjusted a log with the toe of her boot. Sparks lifted briefly, then settled.
“Before we go any further,” she said, “you should know you’re not the only ones here.”
I looked up. “Zara and Sera. They made it in, right?” I replied, my hopeful tone obvious.
“Zara arrived first. Sera shortly after. Both are currently housed a few levels above us.”
Elias shifted beside me. I felt it more than saw it.
