Chapter 32 · There's an emergency exit under the floor

She grabbed a steel control box mounted beside the door. "There's an emergency exit under the floor."

"Where?"

"Under this."

She kicked the box. The panel cracked but held.

Reid shifted Leo into one arm and drove his fist into the metal.

The box buckled.

Mira stared at him. "Do you ever use your hands normally?"

"Not today."

He hit it again. Bolts tore loose. Mira reached inside and yanked out a handful of wires.

The floor beneath them unlocked with a heavy clunk.

"Stairs," she said. "Move."

"You first."

"You don't trust me?"

"Not enough to let you walk behind us."

Her gaze sharpened. "You think I'm going to leave you?"

"I think you know more than you're saying."

"And I think you enjoy being right."

"Get down the stairs, Mira."

For once, she didn't argue.

She dropped through the opening. Reid followed with Leo held tight against his side. The kid's fingers clung to his shirt, trembling every time the Current pulsed under Reid's skin.

Below the lab, a narrow service tunnel ran between concrete walls. Red emergency lights blinked ahead.