At the end of another hallway, Hiroko stopped us in front of a door. She dug her shaking hands into her pocket and pulled out a red key.
It fell.
“Shit.” She reached down.
I bent over and got it before her. “Breathe.”
She let out a long breath.
“Look at me.” I handed her the key. “We’re going to get out of here. Do you believe me?”
She shivered. “Yes.”
I gave her a sad smile. “You’ve got more things to teach my Tiger and me.”
“Oh no. You two have surely graduated.” A nervous chuckle left her as she pushed a button on the door that I hadn’t seen. A box popped out with a keyhole.
“We’ll have to cut through the wet room.” She pushed the red key in and twisted it.
The door beeped open.
She pulled out the red key and pocketed it.
Blood, rot, and death hit me.
What the fuck is this?
One of the twins spoke on my right, "What's the wet room?"
Hiroko stepped to the side. "You don't want to know. We should run through it."
“Let’s go.” I gestured.
The remaining Scales, Reo, and the Claws rushed through.
Hiro hit it next. “Oh God.”
What?
I hurried in with the twins, Hiroko, and her guards.
Fuck.
The floor was slick. I looked down and saw blood pooled in the low spots of the stone.
Dark and thick.
Some of it old and nearly black. Some of it fresh enough to reflect the dim overhead lights.
The walls were splattered—big and small handprints, drag marks, long smears where something had been pulled across the surface.
Steel tables lined the far wall.
Drains beneath them.
Hoses coiled on hooks.
And there were men in the room.
