I left the cages behind and headed down a long hallway that led to the office that I’d spotted before. I rounded a corner and found a door set into the wall. There was no time to be sneaky, so I put my shoulder down, twisted the knob, and barreled in, surprising the two guards who were inside.
The Draconi guards whirled around, not expecting someone to come bursting into the office, but I was already moving forward, swinging my sword. I took the first guard completely by surprise, slicing my sword across his stomach, then whipping back around and stabbing him in the chest. He crumpled to the floor.
I turned toward the other guard, but he moved away before I could attack him the same way I had his friend. I swung at him, but the guard ducked my blow, whirled back around, and slammed his fist into my face. He had a strength Talent, and blood filled my mouth from the hard blow, but the pain was worth it because that cold burn of magic exploded in my veins.
The guard came at me again, but I avoided his fist, then put my shoulder down and barreled into him the same way I had the door. With my extra surge of strength, I shoved him all the way across the office and slammed him into the wall. His head snapped back and he dropped to the ground unconscious.
I whipped around, wondering if any other Draconis might be lurking in the warehouse and come to investigate the noise, but none did so I turned toward the two people in the back of the office.
Mo and Claudia.
They were both tied down to chairs, with heavy ropes looped around their wrists and ankles. They wore the same black suits they’d had on at the White Orchid restaurant last night.
And they’d both been tortured.
Someone had badly beaten the two of them, maybe even more than one person, judging from the blood and bruises that covered their bodies. I hurried over and stopped in front of Mo, who had remained absolutely still through my fight with the two guards. For a moment, I thought he might be dead, but he slowly lifted his head and focused on me.
Up close, the damage to his face was even worse than I’d thought. Both of his eyes were blackened, his nose was broken, and his lips were swollen and split from where someone had punched him repeatedly. Every part of him looked like it just hurt, and my stomach roiled with a combination of grief, guilt, disgust, and rage. But his dark eyes were still sly and bright, and his gaze was steady on mine as I dropped down beside him.
“What did they do to you?” I whispered, tears filling my eyes.
Mo looked at me through his blackened eyes, and his face creased into a grin. “Nothing too bad, kid. Just some cuts and bruises. Why, I know pixies who can punch harder than Blake Draconi. Don’t worry. Pour a little stitch-sting on my face and I’ll be as right as rain. Promise.”
He laughed, but it quickly turned into a choking cough and blood bubbled up out of his lips, dripped down his face, and spattered onto his black suit jacket, soaking into what was already there. The sight and sound tore at my heart, but I pushed my feelings aside and used my sword to slice through the ropes that bound him. Then I put my shoulder under Mo’s and helped him to his feet.
He staggered forward and put a hand on a nearby desk to keep from falling. I watched him a second, but he managed to stay upright so I moved over to Claudia, who hadn’t moved or spoken the whole time I’d been in the office.
Claudia’s head was slumped down on her chest, so I couldn’t see how badly her face had been damaged, but someone had sliced through the sleeves of her black suit jacket, and deep, ugly cuts crisscrossed her arms. It reminded me so much of my mom and how Victor had cut up her body before he’d killed her that white stars exploded in front of my eyes, blotting out everything else.
I blinked and blinked, trying to force the stars away, but it didn’t quite work, and the image of Claudia’s body wavered with that of my mom’s, until I was seeing both of them side by side at the same time, each one of them bloody, broken, and beaten.
My stomach heaved and a screaming sob rose up in my throat, but I choked it down. Claudia couldn’t be dead—murdered—like my mom had been. I couldn’t be too late to save her. Devon would be devastated, and so would I.
Mo shuffled up beside me, reached out, and carefully laid a hand on her shoulder. “Claud? It’s time to wake up now. Come on, Claud. Time to go home.”
At his touch, she let out a weak cough and slowly lifted her head. I gasped. Her face was just as much of a mess as Mo’s, and I could barely make out her green eyes in her bloody, swollen features.
“Mo?” Claudia said, her voice slurring. “What’s going on?”
“Lila’s here,” he said in a gentle voice. “Everything’s going to be okay now. You’ll see.”
Claudia looked over at me, her face creasing with confusion. “Lila? What are you talking about? That’s Serena standing there. Look. She has on her coat and sword and everything.”
My heart twisted, realizing exactly how badly she’d been beaten to make her confuse me with my mom, but I knelt down and took hold of Claudia’s bruised, bloody hand. “We’re going to get you out of here. I promise.”