I nodded. “I’m aware.” I swallowed again as bile tried to climb up my throat. If Torran used it anything like in the training video, I wasn’t sure I could stop myself from vomiting in my helmet. The telekinetic in the video had taken unholy pleasure in ripping his opponents to shreds.

Literally.

Toran stepped closer and put his hand on my shoulder. “What is wrong?”

I tried to shake off the memories and failed. “They showed us a training video of a telekinetic using one. It left an impression.”

His mental voice was very, very gentle. “I believe I’ve seen that video. That is not how a nimtowiadwu should be used, but I will leave it behind if you are uncomfortable.”

He would hobble himself for my comfort. The thought steadied my nerves. “No,” I said. “Keep it. It might be the thing that saves your nephew.”

He hesitated a moment longer, as if judging my sincerity, then he nodded. “Ready?”

I lifted my hand and let it hover over the door control. “Yes.”

“Go.”

I pressed the control and relayed the command. Torran swept through the door as soon as it slid open, the nimtowiadwu leading the way. I followed him, my rifle sweeping the left half of the room.

We were in the main area that connected all of the rooms and hallways. The lights were off and it was quiet. Were the kidnappers so confident that they didn’t even post a guard overnight?

Torran led us to the right, down the first hallway. We cleared rooms as we passed. From the peeks inside, it seemed like they were offices and meeting rooms. An undisturbed film of dust coated everything.

My sense of dread grew stronger as we moved deeper into the bunker. Each new doorway revealed a whole lot of nothing. We swept through bedrooms and barracks, rec rooms and a medbay, and none of them looked like they had been used in months or more. Someone must clean occasionally because the dust was a fine layer rather than a blanket, but otherwise, the rooms were untouched.

We turned down the final hall and I mentally crossed my fingers. Maybe they were all holed up in a single room. It would make saving Cien trickier, but I would take it at this point. However, as we delved into the rooms, my hope died. Torran stopped in the final room, his shoulders stiff, and bowed his head.

The bunker was thoroughly, completely empty.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I shoved down the frustration and focused on the problem. “What did we miss?” I demanded, both over the comm and by directing my thoughts at Torran.

“This should’ve been it,” Kee murmured. “We saw someone in here on the video. Where are they now?”

“We need to check the tunnel that leads to the palace,” I said.