Chapter 26 · Lab Zero Is Still Breathing

The map on the floor wasn't a map. It was a warning.

Glowing lines spiderwebbed out from where I stood, running under steel panels and through walls I couldn't see past. They all ended at one point, marked with a pulsing red icon that looked like a heartbeat monitor. Below it, two words: LAB ZERO.

"Kai." Echo's voice cut through the hum of the lights. "We need to leave. Now."

I didn't move. Couldn't. The key in my hand was warm, almost hot, and the map kept pulsing like it was synced to my heartbeat. Every time the red icon flashed, something in my chest pulled tight.

"Kai."

"I see it," I said.

"Then you see why we're not going down there." She grabbed my shoulder, fingers digging in. "That's not a destination. That's a grave."

I looked at her. Her face was pale under the flickering light, and for the first time since I'd met her, Echo looked scared. Not careful. Not calculating. Scared.

"You know what's down there," I said.

She didn't answer right away. Her hand slipped off my shoulder.

"I know what isn't supposed to be down there," she said finally.