Page 59 of The Hollowed

But then her gaze drifted to Jace who sat on the edge of the van’s trunk. His legs were swinging as he traced shapes into the dust with his finger. He looked up at her with wide eyes and a bright smile.

She was the only family he had left.

If Myra was going to protect him, she couldn’t afford to be the kind of person who walked away from the opportunity to be better than the people who’d wronged her.

Myra dragged a hand down her face then clapped her palms together and started moving. “Alright,” she said, calmer now. “Everyone back in the car.”

Cipher gave her a confused look but didn’t argue. He pushed off the side of the van while Jace scrambled into the backseat, all elbows and excitement. Myra slid into the driver’s seat and waited until she heard all their seatbelts click before she started driving.

Cipher leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest, “So,” he said, “where exactly are we going?”

Myra gripped the steering wheel and stared out the windshield. “We’re not going to Sonora, not without Alex, Luci, and Luna.”

His brow lifted in surprise. “So this is a rescue mission now?”

“Yeah,” Myra said with a laugh. “Might as well be.”

Before any worries could settle in, Jace perked up in his seat. “A rescue mission?” His grin split wide and his eyes gleamed with an excitement she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen. “Like in my games? Finally!”

Myra glanced at him through the mirror and couldn’t help but laugh again. It was easy to forget how young he was, how much he’d already lost. If this gave him something to hold onto, even for a moment, then maybe that was reason enough to chase after Luci and Alex.

Cipher shook his head and muttered something under his breath, but Myra’s lips remained in a smile.

Rescue mission or not, they were in this together.

The van hummed along the road as they drove. Jace hummed softly to himself as he toyed with the strap of his seatbelt. Cipher sat beside her, tapping something into his laptop, his face lit by the screen’s glow.

Then he froze, and his eyes widened.“Holy shit,” he whispered.

Myra’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “What?” she asked, already bracing for bad news.

Cipher didn’t look up but his fingers raced over the keys. “The alarm system at AZ-7 just lit up. Security breach, multiple alerts. It’s — ” He stopped and shook his head. “This is bad.”

For half a second, Myra’s stomach dipped. But then clarity hit her like a beam of lightning.

She knew Alex and the way his mind worked. She knew he would refuse to bend the knee when it came to Luci. “If the alarms are going off, it has to be because of Alex.”

Cipher turned to her. “You’re going to gamble everything on that theory?”

“This isn’t a gamble,” Myra said as she slammed her foot down on the gas. The engine groaned as the van lurched forward. “This is our shot.”

In the backseat, Jace yelped at the sudden burst of speed. Cipher twisted around in his seat and braced himself against the dashboard. “Jace, hold on to something. Now!”

The boy scrambled to clutch the handle above the window, his eyes wide. But the thrill in his smile betrayed him. Myra kept her eyes locked on the road. Whatever chaos waited for them at AZ-7, they would meet it head on.

Chapter 26

Lucilla

There was no doubt in Luci’s heart about who the gunshots belonged to. They were proof of the vow Alex had made days ago, the one she hadn’t taken lightly. He’d looked her in the eye and promised he would stop at nothing to protect her, and she had believed him. Now, hearing his vow unfold beyond the locked door, she knew he was keeping that promise.

Luci stood as guards rushed past the glass window of the isolation room, their weapons raised. There were so many of them, but even if she wanted to try to help, she was locked inside. All she could do was hope and pray he’d make it to her in one piece because if he didn’t, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to live with that guilt.

Luci spun around the small room, scanning every counter and cabinet for anything that might give her even the smallest advantage. Her hands tore through drawers, shoving aside boxes of gauze, rolls of tape, and bandages. But all she found were useless medical supplies.

She was halfway through pulling open another drawer when the lock on the door beeped behind. She froze.

“Turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them.”