“Shit.” I glanced toward the rows of doors lining the long, grey hallway. They were made of thick, reinforced steel. No windows, though there was a slat to stick food through. “Do we get them out now?”

“We should wait for Lord Iannis,” Elnos advised. “He’ll be able to heal them. We can’t risk exposing ourselves, especially since they’re shifters. You and Rylan could catch whatever they’ve been infected with.”

“Fine.” I grabbed the guard and snapped his neck—there was no use in letting him live only to have him try to kill us again the moment our backs were turned. “Let’s go get Annia then.”

I dropped the guard’s body and let it fall as I marched down the hall. The others hurried after me, Noria breaking free from Elnos’s grip to rush to my side. She didn’t look at me, her eyes firmly fixed up ahead, hope and fear etched into her pale, gaunt features. My heart pounded in my chest as we approached the final door, dreading what I might find. Would Annia be all right? Or had the Resistance broken their word to Noria and tortured her anyway? If so, I would hunt down every last person in this compound and kill them. Slowly. And with relish.

“Annia?” I shouted, pounding on the metal door. “Are you in there?”

“Sunaya?” Annia called back, relief evident in her hoarse voice. “Is that really you?”

“Yes,” I cried, tears springing to my eyes. “We’ve got a whole welcoming committee here. Stand back from the door so we can get you out.”

“Those are the best fucking words I’ve heard all day.”

A faint shuffle in the room told me Annia was moving backward. Rylan, Noria, and I moved to the side as Elnos stepped forward, raising his hands toward the door. He spoke a few Words, and intense heat began radiating from his hands.

“By Magorah!” Rylan took another few steps back as the heat waves rippled over us. Noria and I followed suit—my skin was close to burning. “Is he summoning the very sun itself?”