Nile held up the radio. “I’ll be ready.”
Helgi had the walkie’s twin clipped to her belt. She patted it now. “We’ll keep you informed.”
This was it. The moment of truth. Yasra and Wex climbed back up the bank to join the two other guards. Lorance stood looking down on us with an indecipherable expression, and then he closed his eyes and a ball of light appeared in the air, floating down and entering the tunnel ahead of us.
I raised a hand to him. “Thank you.”
Nile jerked his chin up at Bran and then followed them. Helgi, Bran, and I headed in. The stealth team.
Excitement and apprehension combined to create a crazy cocktail in my veins.
I locked gazes with Vesper. “See you on the other side.”
He grabbed my elbow as I turned away and brought me up short. “Don’t die,” he said.
The heat of his hand seeped through my clothes and awareness bloomed in the pit of my belly.
I arched a brow, ignoring the unwelcome flutter low in my abdomen. “Aw, so nice to know you care.”
His cobalt gaze focused on my mouth and my stomach flipped. “I don’t give a shit, but Dante will.”
He released me and strode away, taking my breath with him.
“Damn,” Helgi said. “That was hot.”
“Fuck you.”
Bran’s chuckle followed me into the darkness.
* * *
“We’re at the door,” Helgi said into the radio. “I’ll call in half an hour.” She depressed the button and the radio crackled.
“Got it,” Nile said. “Um… bye.”
“Bye.” Helgi turned it off.
The door was smooth Obrilian metal built into gray stone, and the keyhole was a tiny slot, almost invisible if you weren’t looking for it. I plucked the key from my pocket and pushed it into the hole. It fit with a click and the knot in my chest eased; I guess part of me had worried that this key might not be the key. That maybe it was a trick, but it fit, and when I turned it, the damn thing ground and whirred and the massive door opened with a satisfying hiss.
Helgi and Bran exhaled at the same time. I glanced at their faces, all spooky and pale illuminated by the magick ball of light, and then I grasped the edge of the door and pulled. It swung open silently, easily, as if it had been waiting for this moment all its life, eager and willing.
I slipped through the gap and into another tunnel.
The ball of light followed us, but before long the tunnel began to slope upward. A ladder appeared and above it a metal hatch.
“This is it, chick,” Helgi said.
I grabbed the rungs and began to climb. The hatch lever turned easily and then I was pushing my head up into Sector 8. We were in an alley between two brick buildings. The air smelled sweet, like something baked. Music drifted to my ears, a lilting, pulsing melody unlike anything I’d ever heard.
Metal bins were lined up against the wall to my left, and a few meters away an open door spilled a rectangle of light into the alleyway. I climbed out and walked a little way toward the door. A sign above it said Service Entrance. The smell of food wafted out and my stomach clenched in hunger.
Voices rose over the clatter of pots and pans. Laughter mingled with the music.
“What is it?” Helgi asked.
It couldn’t be… I jogged down the alley and paused at the entrance to look out at the lamp-lit streets dotted with humans, at the storefronts and the eateries—places now found only in old, battered magazines and read about in books from the time before.
“Anya…” Helgi stood beside me, her face echoing my shock.
A couple walked hand in hand across the street. They were bundled in winter clothes to ward off the chill, but the night air had put color in their cheeks and smiles on their faces.
“What the fuck?” Bran said under his breath.
This was the human world from before the wars. Frozen in time and intact. These were the humans the Draco held captive.
The humans who needed saving.
Except.
I wasn’t sure they realized it.
* * *
The building that the tunnel entrance was hidden behind was a bar that served food. It said so in colored chalk on the sign propped up outside. I was tempted to touch it but curled my fingers into my palms to stop myself.
“What do we do?” Helgi asked.
That was the burning question. This wasn’t what I’d been expecting. This wasn’t part of the plan. Think, Anya…
“Anya?” Bran prompted.
Okay, the objective was the same, so… “We ask around and find someone who can help us. We find out what’s really going on here.”
Helgi nodded. “This is a bar, like a tavern, right?”
It didn’t look like any tavern I’d ever seen, but there were people drinking what looked like ale from glass tankards and sitting around tables. A bar was visible at the back, lit up by electric lights and lined with pretty glass bottles.
Yeah, this was a tavern for humans. “People in taverns like to talk, especially the maids and the proprietors.”
“So, we go in and ask questions,” Bran said.
A humming sound had my head whipping around. I spotted the sentinel as it rounded the corner of the street several meters away.
“Quick.” I pushed open the door and herded us in.
Warm air, the aroma of cooking meat, and the tang of ale on the air greeted us along with too many eyes. People were pausing in conversation, gazes flicking our way and then back to their companions to be followed up with whispers and amused smiles.
Fuck, our clothes and weapons. We probably looked alien to them. This was not what I’d been expecting the world inside the walls to look like, and we didn’t fit.
“Wow,” a young male to my left said. “You guys look amazing. Check out the costumes and the makeup.” He urged his companion to look at Bran. “Seriously, dude, that is some
