I turn around fast, swinging my arms high. My iron cuffs slam into the Guard’s jaw, knocking him flat on his back. I straddle him, pinning his arms with my knees, my wrist restraints pressed against his throat as he thrashes. My hands are shaking by the time his head falls limp to one side. I rush to mute his transmitter, plucking it from his ear and stuffing it in my pocket.

Restraints rattling, I search his belt for his key card. Holding one in each hand, I wave both cards over the scanner. The red light flips to green and the locks click open. Grabbing the Guard’s motionless body under the arms, I drag him into the office with me and close the door, shutting us inside. A faint glow glimmers under his skin, his magic preparing to leave him. He’ll be dead in a matter of minutes. I won’t have long before someone in the Control Room realizes he’s gone.

My head snaps up as motion sensors trigger the lights. I freeze as they flicker on in quick succession—bookshelves, reading lamps, desk lamp, overheads . . .

Breath held, I wait.

The office stays quiet. No footsteps in the hall. No flashing alarms. Just the glimmer of the snake’s scales in the enclosure across the room.

The serpent writhes, its flicking tongue following my movements as I creep close and kneel in front of the glass, getting a good look at the shimmering facets of its eyes. If I had any doubts before that Ananke’s soul is trapped inside this snake, they’re gone now.

“I’ve come to break you out. You’re going to help me get out of this mess. But you already know that, don’t you?” I run my fingers over the lid, but it’s sealed on all sides. I search the room, my gaze landing on a tall, hooked reading lamp behind a leather armchair in the corner. Jerking the plug from the wall, I turn the lamp upside down and swing the base into the side of the snake’s enclosure. She recoils from the splintering glass with a hiss. I swing again and again, until I’ve chipped out a hole big enough for the snake to slither through.

Slowly, I set down the lamp, positioning myself between the snake and the only exit. Her snout emerges, followed by six feet of shimmering scales. She drops to the floor and raises her triangular head, a warning in the cobralike sway of her body. She’s bigger than I imagined, her jaws open, baring fangs like scythes.