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Natalie and I follow him over to it My aunt Lucinda is stretched out on the mattress, her mouth held open with a metal clamp Like the others, her wrists and ankles are shackled to the bed frairl from my mom’s photo This woman is bruised and broken, her black hair cropped so close to her head that there are several bald patches Kieran gently removes the clamp from her dry lips, and Natalie unfastens the shackles Lucinda throws her arface," Kieran breath," Lucinda replies "Took you long enough to gethere for three weeks, you know," she teases
He chuckles faintly "Yeah, what can I say? I got tied up" He releases her and she struggles upright "You can thank the kid He caot us"
Lucinda’s black eyes slide towardoff et you out of here"
"You shouldn’t have co it on "It was stupid of you"
I frown I thought she’d be happy to see me
Natalie tries to help Lucinda up, but my aunt waves her off
"I can walk" She shakily gets to her feet but es only two steps before she stumbles Kieran catches her She doesn’t object when he slips a supportive arm around her
The other patients stir in their beds, awakened by our voices They begin toour Sentry uniforms--they must think we’re here to hurt them I catch Natalie’s eye
"We can’t leave them, Ash," she says
It wasn’t my intention to release the inmates, but now that we’re here, I can’t let them stay like this These are people’s moms and dads
"There’s too many, bro We can’t take them with us," Beetle says
"I know," I say "Untie them anyway"
Elijah helps his mom to her feet while the rest of us hurry to each bed and unhook the tubes and remove their shackles The freed patients help us release the others Downstairs I can hearunlocked, tired voices wishing each other good
The patients don’t wait around for orders; they just stagger over to the open door I notice two fael, two of theAssembly in Black City Like Lucinda, Pullo’s hair has been closely cut and he’s got so as an ox Angel hasn’t fared quite as well She’s beaten and bruised, her lilac eyes swollen, but there’s a hard determination in them They’ve both wrapped their blankets around themselves They catch my eye, but don’t say hello They never liked et is a curt nod froel
"Natalie, over here!" Day calls out, running toward one of the beds nearby
Lying on the bed is an elderly Shu’Zin Darkling wo hair and purple eyes Like all Shu’Zin Darklings, her feet are clawed They’re the only breed of Darklings with that unique physical feature
"Martha!" Natalie races over to the bed to help Day untie her They wrap a sheet around the old woman to preserve herup "It’s so lovely to see you"
Natalie throws her arht The wos are shaking, barely able to hold her upright I jog over to them, and Martha smiles up at me She used to be friends with my parents and even babysat me when I was a cub, so I have a real soft spot for the old lady I pick her up and she rests her head against iving Martha’s hand a reassuring squeeze
Downstairs I hear a pop of gunfire, followed by screales down the aisle toward the door "We need to leave"
Elijah helps his mom as we head to the door The hallway is in chaos, with hu in all directions We force our way through the crowds and hurry downstairs
The smell of blood hits my nostrils the moment we reach the second floor There are screas and a duo of Lupines leap on the scientists, ripping out their throats or snapping their necks I spot Pullo and Angel at the end of the corridor, their faces coated in red My foot skids on a puddle of blood, and I nearly drop Martha Someone pulls an alar! It won’t be long before this place is swaruards
"Head for the truck!" I yell at the others
They nod, and we push past the fighting Darklings and hu not to inhale the scent,to reveal her fangs This ot a hand over her nose anda bleeding round floor just as the first wave of Sentry guards crash through the front doors and file upstairs, drawn to the sound of screauns I skid around the corner just as a bullet smacks into the plasterboard on the wall behind uards hot on our heels Bullets fly and one grazes Day’s ar a hand to her bleeding arainst her back with each step
We turn down a familiar corridor and race past the laboratories we passed on the way in The back door looms up ahead, just thirty feet away Acelot bursts into a sprint and barges through the door I’m relieved to see that the truck is still parked outside He cliine Day is the next one out, followed by Lucinda and Kieran, then finally Elijah and his mom Natalie is almost at the door when she suddenly stops and spins on her heel, running toward one of the labs
"What are you doing?" I cry out
Natalie swipes the keycard down the scanner and enters the laboratory I throw a look overShe sprints across the lab toward the refrigerator at the back of the room and snatches one of the vials of silvery-white liquid On her way out, she notices souards yells, shooting his gun The bullet whizzes past un at the sauards They crash to the ground, dead
Natalie joins us in the corridor In her hand are the vial and a blue digital disc with PATIENT TRIALS written on it She thrusts the for us on the road Beetle leaps into the back of the truck and takes Martha frouns the engine and we speed down the road As I shut the doors, I catch sight of groups of Darklings and Bastets spilling out of the lab Some run down the roads, others scatter toward the forest In the distance I spot several Transporters heading in our direction Reinforce, and one of theainst a seat as Acelot takes a hard right, getting off the road The truck rocks wildly as he drives over the bu up the steep slope Everyone braces theht immediately dims as the sun is blocked out by the canopy Acelot expertly steers the truck through the trees and Elijah lets out a whoop, thu, like we’re on a roller coaster and not running for our lives Acelot grins The brothers are really enjoying this Yolanda chuckles at her son
Natalie takes out her black syringe case and carefully places the glass vial of silvery-white liquid inside while Beetle bandages Day’s are on an old dirt track, which the Sentrywood down from the forests
Natalie presses the red button on her watch "Destiny will be here soon to get us"
"We need to go to Ulrika’s first," Kieran says, and Lucinda nods
"Who’s Ulrika?" I ask
"My cousin," Kieran explains "She’s ere cos, as baffled as me
"Your cousin lives here? That’s crazy!" Beetle says "Isn’t she afraid of being caught?"
"No," Kieran says "The guards know she’s here They’ve been told to leave her alone"