But I hadn’t expected Victor to have a way to actually test the weapons for magic. Worry twisted my stomach, but there was nothing I could do to help Devon right now.
Felix and I watched while Victor slid the dagger into a holster on his belt, hiding its midnight glow from sight, then strode over to the door at the front of the warehouse. One of the guards rushed to open it for him, and Victor stepped through it and out into the night, with Blake right behind him.
The guards hurried to fall in line and follow them, until there was only one man left behind in the warehouse. But even he stayed near the front, staring out the windows, watching what was happening on the street outside. In their cages, the Sinclairs turned so that most of them were facing in that direction as well, trying to figure out what was going on.
I looked at Felix and he nodded back. We wouldn’t get a better chance than this. Together, we eased out from behind the crates and tiptoed toward the front of the warehouse, hugging the wall and keeping to the shadows as much as we could.
I motioned to Felix and we both crept toward the guard, who was still staring out the windows. We had almost reached him when one of the pixies spotted us.
“Felix!” she yelled in a high, squeaky voice.
The pixie clamped her hands over her mouth, realizing her mistake, but it was already too late.
Startled by the pixie’s outburst, the guard whipped around, his hand dropping to his weapon. His eyes locked with mine and his surprised shock hit me like a jolt of electricity in my chest. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but I was quicker.
I surged forward and slammed my fist into the guard’s face. I didn’t hit him all that hard, but he staggered back and his head snapped against the wall. He dropped to the floor unconscious. A lucky break for us. As soon as I was sure that he wasn’t going to get back up anytime soon, I sheathed my sword and sprinted over to the closest cage, with Felix right behind me.
I yanked my chopstick lock picks out of my hair, bent down, and slid the tools into the lock. So much adrenaline was pumping through my body that my fingers trembled and the picks slipped out of the lock. I swallowed down a curse, then made myself draw in a long, deep breath and slowly let it out. My fingers steadied and I went to work on the lock in earnest.
Snick.
It popped open. One down, two to go. I left Felix to unhook the lock from the cage and open the door, even as I raced over to the second cell, where Angelo and Reginald were already standing by the door waiting for me. Ten seconds later, Felix was by my side with the first of the freed guards and pixies zipping through the air behind him.
“What are you doing here, son?” Angelo hissed. “It’s too dangerous!”
Felix gave his dad a grim smile. “Believe me, I know. But no way was I leaving you or any of the other Sinclairs in here a second longer than necessary.”
“Where are Mo and Claudia?” I asked, still working on the lock.
“In the office,” Reginald said, worry making his English accent even more pronounced than usual. “Victor has been . . . talking with them ever since he brought us here last night.”
“You mean torturing them,” I spat out the words.
Reginald winced and nodded.
I redoubled my efforts on the lock, and a moment later, it too snicked open. While Felix opened that door, I raced over to the third and final cage where Deah and Seleste were. A few seconds later, I had it and the cage door open as well. I shoved the lock picks into my coat pocket.
“Darling!” Seleste said, striding through the open door and beaming at me. “I knew you’d rescue us!”
Deah limped up beside her mom and smiled at me. “I knew it too.”
I grinned back at her. “Sterlings stick together, right?”
Her smile widened. “Always.”
All the Sinclair guards, workers, and pixies came pouring out of the cells and gathered in a tight knot in the center of the warehouse. As soon as the guards were free, their eyes lit up with anger and they turned and glared at the front of the building, as if they were wishing that the Draconi guards would come back inside so they could show them what a real fight looked like.
“Now what?” Angelo asked.
“You, Felix, and Reginald stay here and keep watch. If Devon gets in trouble outside, you guys go out and help him. Meanwhile, let the guards help the injured folks and pixies out the back of the warehouse,” I said. “I’ll go get Mo and Claudia and come right back.”
“But—” Felix started.
“Just do it!” I hissed, already turning and sprinting deeper into the warehouse.
CHAPTER TWENTY