The metal rang faintly underfoot, singing different notes for different soles, and the hammering in Sullha's chest did not ease even after they passed into the dim interior of the ship.
One of Yaaf's teammates took the lead, and she followed him through a heavy steel door and down a steep, narrow stair, along a passage that smelled of rust and oil and the cold mineral breath of the vessel's interior, until they reached another steel door and stepped through it into a wide, dim hold.
It was a large space, mostly empty, steel-walled, and lit by a few caged bulbs. Yaaf's teammates had been here earlier to prepare it for their arrival, as evidenced by the stacks of folded blankets along one of the walls. They were gray and serviceable, but there were enough of them to cushion the floor for sitting or lying down. It was so thoughtful of them to foresee the need for some minimal comfort.
"There's a bathroom just outside," the one who had led them said, in the island's tongue and then repeated in English for the sake of those who hadn't been born on the island. "Through that door and to the left. You may use it. Otherwise, stay here, stay quiet, and wait. The crew has been thralled not to come to this area of the hold or question any anomalies, but you still shouldn't venture out of this room unless it's absolutely necessary. We'll come for you when it's time."
The women filed in and lowered themselves onto the blankets, and the relief of being enclosed again, hidden again, walled off from the terrible openness of the dock, moved through the group like a held breath finally let go.
Tomek tugged at her. "Mama. I need to go."
"All right." She put him down and took his hand. "We will be the first to check out the bathroom."
Sullha led Tomek out of the steel door and turned left, where she found a cramped room with a toilet and a basin.
"Do you need me to come in with you, or can you manage on your own?"
He looked around the tiny, windowless bathroom and must have decided that it was safe enough.
"I'm a big boy. I can go to the bathroom by myself." He waited for her to step out and closed the door behind her, but she didn't hear him locking it, which was good.
She needed to be able to get in there if something happened. It wouldn't be the first time Tomek didn't aim right and peed on himself. Sullha hoped it wouldn't happen now because she had no clothing for him to change into.
When he came out, Rohilah was hurrying toward them with Bianca on her hip, and Sullha stepped aside to let them pass.
Back in the hold, the others had begun to settle.
Petrov and Dimitri had claimed a corner, the farthest from the door, and were unstacking their boxes. Dimitri carefully set down a small refrigerator with a glass door. She assumed that was where he stored the doses of medication that kept Yaaf and the others from losing their coherence. He'd said that they only had enough for forty-eight hours, and after that they would need to make more, and that was what the other equipment was for.
Mattie was helping them, and Sullha noticed that her hand was bandaged.
"What happened to your hand?"
Mattie looked surprised by the question and lifted the bandaged hand as if she was seeing it for the first time. "It's much better now. Mostly healed. I keep the bandage on to remind myself that I shouldn't do anything more than lift a fork with it. At least for another two weeks or so."
That didn't answer the question of how she'd gotten injured in the first place, and Sullha assumed it was something that had happened in the lab.
Mattie turned the hand around, looking at it with wonder in her eyes. "I'm lucky that the doctor was able to save my hand. After it was shattered by that brute, I thought I would never be able to do anything with it again."
Sullha's breath caught, and behind her she heard a woman gasp, probably Saphira, who could understand what Mattie had said.
"Why were you attacked?" she asked in a whisper, even though she was afraid to hear the answer.
"It's a long story," Mattie said. "But the gist of it was that I was reaching for a phone that I dropped to call the Eight for help, and the brute stomped on my hand to prevent me from doing that. Didn't do him much good, though. They came anyway and tore him and his evil friends to pieces." She glanced adoringly in Yaaf's direction. "They saved Dimitri and me. We had no chance against the immortal soldiers who wanted us dead."
Sullha didn't know how to feel about that.
She was proud of Yaaf and his friends for rescuing Mattie and Dimitri, but hearing that they'd torn other immortals to pieces sent a cold shiver down her spine.
It was both reassuring and terrifying.
But then that was true of any weapon, and that was what the Eight had been created to be.
"I'm glad that you're okay." She walked toward the piles of blankets and sat down with Tomek.
Anita was sitting on her other side, in the same spot that Yaaf's teammates had placed her. She was still obviously thralled, and the Eight were probably too busy bringing in boxes and organizing everything to remove it from her.
Doctor Petrov walked over and crouched in front of her, murmuring things in Russian while checking her pupils. He cast a glance at one of the Eight, and when the soldier saw him, he tipped his head toward her as if to ask when they were going to remove the thrall.
