I can tell by the look on her face when she has her silent conversation with the centaur. “Dono’s out of the Jeep and hidden by the oil tank,” she tells us. “He’ll shift and start shooting arrows as soon as we need him to.”
“Good. Everyone ready? Let’s move.”
Maximus instantly shifts, then runs to the stairs, waiting for the command to attack. Feniks throws me the key card, and I do my part.
Swipe.
Beep.
Next.
Swipe.
Beep.
Next.
I can hear Theo’s voice talking gently but urgently to whoever is in the first cell.
—I’m going to put some Lumina in him…this kid is almost catatonic—
My minotaur growls, pacing the cage of my ribs, desperate for vengeance.
On to the next door.
Swipe. Beep.
Behind me, Theo drags a hollow-cheeked boy with long black hair from the gloom of Cell 6. “You have to help me,” she whispers to him. “Can you help me with the others?”
Even though the kid can’t be more than seven or eight, he straightens his shoulders and nods. “I can do it.” His voice is rough and raw, like mine was before I lost it completely.
Swipe.
Beep.
I reach Cell 4 and as the door opens, my mind stutters. This is the one.
My vision tunnels.
The scratch marks on the door frame were made with my own fingernails years ago.
The minotaur isn't just growling now; he's clawing at the back of my eyes, demanding to be let out to gore every person in a white lab coat.
Inside the cell is a girl, tiny. She’s huddled in the corner, her knees pulled to her chest, thumb in her mouth.
I reach out and softly touch her hair. It’s a shock that she doesn’t flinch.
We’re taking you to safety, little one.
Obviously she can’t hear my thoughts, but for some reason she stands and slips her hand into mine. I reach down and pull her onto my hip, then move to open the final three cells.
“We’re sure there are no others?” Feniks asks.
Theo is holding the administrator's tablet. “I checked the records. There are only these kids.”
In total, we have six children.
They look like ghosts, their skin sallow and their eyes too large for their thin faces.
