Slater let out a loud whoop. “You got facility locations? That’s great!”
Katie’s voice shook with adrenaline. “Send them to me as soon as you can. I’ll map them.”
Eleanor exhaled slowly. “If we have multiple facilities, the Human Council can’t deny a rogue faction anymore. This becomes political leverage.”
“And revenge,” I whispered.
Dimitri’s hand tightened on my waist for half a second. “Revenge you will get.”
The scientist finished wiping the last file. His fingers hovered blankly over the keyboard.
Dimitri leaned in again. “Now, you will forget what you did. You will forget what you saw. You will forget every single thing pertaining to supernaturals.”
The scientist nodded. “Forget…”
Dimitri straightened, eyes still burning.
“Solon, Ivy, and Koa have the supernaturals moving, but you three need to get outnow. The facility is trying to isolate sectors. I can hold it for maybe…”
“Don’t give time estimates,” Dimitri hissed.
Slater huffed. “The timer is already counting down on your watches. Gonow.”
Dimitri grabbed me and Zuko off our feet before everything blurred.
The alarms were loud and red lights flashed, but when Dimitri stopped and let us go, we were at the exit of the facility.
He pushed the door open, and snow swirled in the floodlight beams.
Ivy stood with phoenix flames licking over her fists as she led the supernaturals to our extraction point. Solon had blood streaking his lower face from a broken nose that had already healed while he worked with Ivy.
Koa knelt in melted snow from his phoenix fire with supernaturals gathered around him, hands glowing blue as he stabilized them one by one. Some were sobbing, some were detached, but they were all alive.
Zuko stepped out from behind me, bloodied and calm, as he dragged his scientist behind him.
Dimitri’s arm hooked around my waist, and protectiveness spiked through his bond. “Are you okay?”
I smirked. “I’m okay. Areyouokay?”
He kissed the top of my head. “Fine.”
“Liar,” I teased.
Slater’s voice came through the comms. “All right. Time toburnthe place.”
“Does it have a self-destruct function?” Ivy asked.
“The facility’s system has one. Slater, can you trigger it?” Katie asked.
Slater purred, “Already did.”
Sylver used a device that aided her in creating a protection ward around our group just as the ground beneath the facility trembled and internal systems blared on cue.
A low rumble rolled through, and we kept moving further away from it. Our squad formed a protective ring as we backed away from the building. The supernaturals we were saving were supported between us.
A deep, concussive boom rolled through the night.
The facility collapsed inward, swallowing its own structure in a controlled implosion of fire, steam, and shattered steel. The shockwave punched through the air, sending powder spraying up in a white cloud that glittered under the moonlight.
