“Wish I had one of those,” Rylan remarked. “Seems odd that the captain wasn’t carrying one, but he probably doesn’t want to scare the populace. Maybe he keeps it in his office.”

I wrinkled my nose at that, but said nothing as Rylan conversed with the guards. I didn’t want to distract him—any lapse in protocol could get him killed. But he said the required things, and, within moments, he was through those double doors and walking down a long, brightly lit, white-tiled hall.

The next hour was pretty uneventful. Rylan went to his office, retrieved the captain’s gun, and checked in with the day shift captain, who went off duty. After that, he made his rounds, touching base with the guards stationed in different areas around the facility and doing the job of the man he was impersonating.

I used the time to get the lay of the land, taking mental notes and verbally relaying information about the compound to Iannis. As far as I could see, it was split into four sections. The first held the administrative offices, which was where we started. This was only a small portion of the compound, two parallel hallways lined with square rooms. All the windows were shielded with thick blinds, and there were heavy locks on the doors. The plates on those doors told us to whom the offices belonged, and I eagerly scanned each one, hoping to find Noria’s name. But though several head scientists did hold offices—and Rylan even spoke to one who was behind his desk as we passed by—there was no trace of Noria.

She’s not important enough to have her own office, I told myself, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach. After all, she was only recently recruited, and looks like she should still be in school.

The laboratory section was by far the largest. These rooms were walled off completely, protected by steel-reinforced doors and keypads. The guards posted in this section didn’t have access—they simply patrolled the halls. There were no windows to see within, but every so often, a white-coated individual would emerge, usually with a clipboard in hand, and either head into another laboratory, the washrooms, or the offices.

It all looked very normal and civilized, if you ignored the faint sobs coming from the rooms. A chill rippled down my spine at the sound of a child wailing inconsolably, and anger ignited in my chest.

“Rylan,” I hissed. “There are live test subjects in here, aren’t there?”

“I’m afraid so,” Rylan said grimly, nodding at another guard as we rounded the corner. “I scent shifters and various small animals. When I was here before, the place was nearly empty.” There was a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

“We’ve got to rescue them,” I insisted. “We can’t just leave them here.”