Rows and rows of metal doors with small square windows, each one glowing faintly with dim light. I peeked into a room, and my heart dropped at the inhumane conditions. It was much worse than where I’d been held. No beds or furniture. Just concrete, a thin blood-stained blanket in one corner, and the hulking shape of machinery bolted to the wall beside each door with liquid tourmalyke inside it. The thick, viscous fluid was in clear canisters, glowing faintly. Tubes ran from the canisters through wall ports into the cells, feeding directly into the supernatural’s veins as they lay on the blanket.
My chest tightened.
Morgan and Koa both let out soft, strangled sounds behind me.
“Slater,” Jesper said, voice low with contained fury. “Can you unlock the cell doors?”
“I’m on the locks,” Slater said, fingers clacking over the keys. “But they’ve got triple protections and firewalls on the doors tied to the tourmalyke regulators. If I brute-force the doors, or if it’s opened with magic, every supernatural hooked to an IV will be flooded with enough tourmalyke to kill them.”
“So don’t use brute-force or magic,” Jesper snapped.
I was already moving down the corridor, eyes flicking from window to window. Inside, paler faces stirred. Some blinked slowly, their minds hazy through the fog of sedation. Others lay still, with only the faintest rise and fall of their chests proving they were alive.
“We have shifters, witches, a couple of sirens, a young demon—” I reported, voice tight as I forced myself to keep walking. “A couple of kids. Teenagers.”
Rage flared white-hot in my chest.
“They’re all getting out,” Jesper assured me. “Every single one.”
I passed in front of one cell with three bodies tossed in a corner. They were not breathing. “Not all of them are alive.”
“Got it,” Corin said, voice tight. “I’ve isolated the tourmalyke machines from the door system. Slater, you’re clear to open.”
The locks clanged in a cascading series down the hall. Doors groaned as bolts retracted.
Drecken added his own power, magic pushing outward to help un-stick hinges.
One by one, the doors swung all the way open.
The first to step out was a witch, IV marks dotting her arms and eyes rimmed red.
She swayed, then caught herself on the frame, squinting at us in disbelief.
“We are agents from the Supernatural Council,” Jesper said, stepping forward, hands open, voice steady and grounded. “You’re safe. We’re getting you out.”
Her knees buckled, and Morgan was at her side, catching her before she hit the floor. Her fingers dug into the witch’s wrist to check her pulse, and she cursed slightly before using her healing magic on her.
No human came running to us.
Shifters staggered out a few doors down from the witch. A siren clung to her cell wall, humming without her magic threaded into her voice.
Sylver glided over to her, voice matching that hum, leading her gently into the hall.
April and Kyle darted down one row, their vampiric speed a blur as they scooped weakened prisoners into their arms and vanished with them toward the exit.
Tobias and Jesse moved in opposite directions, their flames flaring in controlled bursts.
“Rune, Dimitri, Zuko, and Koa, with me.” Jesper gestured for us. “It’s time to find the Whettlocks and take this operation down completely.”
“And me?” Drecken raised a brow at Jesper. “My authority outweighs yours, Jesper.”
“I know,” he agreed. “But it would be best to have you stay and help get all the supernaturals to safety. Plus, if any humans come, you can wipe them out easily.”
Drecken nodded before walking over and kissing my forehead. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”
“I know.” I kissed his lips quickly. “Save them, okay?”
“Anything for you, viperling.”
