“Hi, Slater,” I said sweetly to the camera in the corner.
As soon as I said his name, curiosity and focused calculation pulsed faintly down our bond.
“Worthy showed me what you’re doing through Snakey,” I explained. “Cool, huh? My comms are between my boobs, but I’ll grab it later. I didn’t want the humans to take it.”
Surprise flickered down the bond, and I giggled before I shut my mouth with a snap.
Tilting my head, I shifted my senses outward, letting myself hear past these poorly made rooms. Voices filtered through the walls, halls, and into a shut-off room.
One sentence stuck out to me.
“That brings us to forty-three supernaturals total in containment.”
Fates…Forty-three. Not just the three teens had been taken, which we knew, butforty-three supernaturals?
I turned my head. “Where are the teens?”
Worthy connected to Snakey again, and I could see the blueprints of the facility. I could also hear whatever Snakey could hear.
“The teens are separated by different rooms, but they’re right down the corridor to Rune’s,” Katie explained. “There are so many more supernaturals… The lab layout has a lobby where four hallways connect, each hallway lined with containment rooms on either side. At least two security doors are between us and the exit.”
“The doors…what do they use to access them?” Solon asked.
“Doors require handprint authorization,” Katie answered.
“Nasty,” Zuko muttered, but anxiety at being away from me filled the bond. “Solution?”
“Option A: chop off a guard’s hand,” I said automatically, knowing they were listening to me through the camera. “Option B: Dimitri compels someone to open the doors for us. I prefer option A.”
“Option A is off the table,” Eleanor’s voice cut in. “No violence, remember? Conditional permission.”
“That was before we found out they’re experimenting on over forty supernaturals,” I scoffed. “But I guess we can try to play nice. You rescue the teens first. I’ll get myself out once I hear you break in. These restraints are nothing to me.”
“We’re at the outer perimeter,” Ivy replied, her voice echoing in the room Snakey was in. “Slater’s guiding us to a weak point in their external security.”
“Snakey,” Slater murmured. “Tell my venom baby I love her, then go forward and get us an idea of what we’re walking into.”
“I love you, too.”
“This is what we get for being on a squad with mates,” Solon said, tone somewhere between amused and awkward.
“Aren’t you lucky?” I closed my eyes as Worthy pulled me back and faded back into Slater’s mark.
The crackle of disabled security protocols sounded almost immediately, and I flexed my hands once, letting my basilisk magic roll through my muscles before I yanked.
The Tourmalyke restraints snapped, shattering around me. I swung my legs off the table and stood, stretching out the stiffness.
I reached down my top and grabbed the comms, putting it back in my ear.
Lights flickered. Somewhere down the hall, an alarm went off before it stopped and panicked voices started.
“Surveillance scrambling is live,” Slater called. “I’ve got their cams looped. We won’t be tracked.”
I punched the keypad on the door, and it crunched as it buckled inward. The door swung open, and I stepped into the hall.
Five humans rounded the corner. They were security guards in tactical gear with guns and tasers.
“Hands up!” one shouted.
