Page 63 of The Hollowed

Her grip on the wheel loosened just enough for her to exhale through her nose. “Jace was taken off the transplant list,” she said at last.

Luci’s head snapped toward her. “What?”

“What the hell do you mean?” Alex echoed before he could stop himself.

“I know,” Myra said, her jaw tightening as if the words soured her mouth. “It didn’t make any sense to me either.” She kept her eyes on the road, but the muscle along her jaw went taut. “So I confronted Doc myself. He said there was nothing he could do, and then he told me to take Jace, find you guys, and get everyone across the border. There’s a safe place waiting in Sonora.”

The car fell silent.

“I’m here for backup,” Cipher chimed in, breaking the silence.

“And me too!” Jace said with a boyish grin. “And I feel fine — I promise, Dr. Luci.”

The boy’s words softened the tension in the air, and Alex noticed the way Luci blinked like she was caught off guard. “Good. That’s good Jace,” she said.

She turned back to Cipher. “Do you have any medical supplies?”

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, there’s some in my bag. Just gauze, antibiotics, and a couple of pain killers. Nothing fancy, but it’s something.”

“I’ve been giving Jace his meds,” Myra cut in. “He’s fine.”

Luci shook her head. “They’re for Alex. You did a good job Myra, I’m not saying otherwise, I promise.”

Cipher passed the kit to Luci, who started cleaning the worst ofthe cuts at Alex’s side.

The sting of alcohol made him groan through his teeth, but he forced himself to stay still so Luci could work.

“Sonora,” he said, trying to distract himself. “What’s there exactly?”

Cipher adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “It’s an old facility that Prometheus abandoned years ago.” He paused. “But it’s safe from what I can tell. They have encrypted comms and everything.”

Alex’s gaze shifted to Myra in the mirror. “And the people? Who runs it?”

“Defectors and survivors who slipped through Prometheus’s cracks. It’s messy but it’s safe. Or at least safer than anywhere else we could go.”

Alex let the words settle as Luci taped down fresh gauze over his ribs.

Safe.

That word felt foreign. Dangerous and too fragile to trust.

“It better be worth the risk,” he said finally. “Because after what Prometheus just tried to do to Luci, I’m not letting her step into another cage.”

Neither Myra nor Cipher argued.

“If Doc told Myra to take us there, then it will be,” Luci reassured. “He’s probably the only person I could trust outside of everyone here.” She peeled off the gloves she’d slipped on to patch Alex up and slipped beneath his arm, curling against him so he could hold her.

Alex let out a slow breath and gave a faint nod. He was too tired and battered to untangle the chaos spinning in his mind. Instead, he lowered his lips to press a soft kiss against the crown of her head and allowed himself just one moment where it didn’tmatter that the last twenty four hours had nearly taken her from him.

“Eww,” said Jace beside them, followed by a theatrical groan. “Why is everyone kissing everyone all of a sudden?”

The corners of Alex’s mouth pulled into a smile despite himself, and when his gaze moved to Cipher, he caught the look he and Myra shared. It hit Alex then that whatever had been going on between Cipher and Myra, was more serious than he’d first assumed.

The laugh that broke from him was soft but real. Luci’s quiet chuckle joined his.

“Since when are you two together?” Luci asked playfully.

Cipher twisted around immediately, eager to answer. “Officially? I’m not sure. Unofficially, maybe a year. It’s kinda — ”