“Be ready for anything,” I say as I reach out a hand and press it to the door, my touch prompting it to slide open with a whoosh. My muscles are tight, my body prepared to leap into fight or flight mode, depending on what threat awaits us.

But as I get my first look into the lab, it’s confusion I feel above all else. Confusion and alarm, but not for the reasons I would have expected.

Cami sucks in a sharp, surprised breath as together we carefully step into the room, the two of us unable to do anything but stare at the scene before us.

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The lab is trashed.

Completely, totally trashed.

Tables are overturned, their contents strewn across the floor— glass vials smashed, pages ripped from notebooks, scalpels and syringes, and an array of various colored liquids splattered on the tiles. The larger free-standing medical equipment is cracked and broken, as if someone picked up a baseball bat with the intent to pummel everything in sight. Scanners and machines and who knows what else—everything is destroyed.

Glass crunches under our feet as we move farther into the room. I shudder at the sticky feeling from whatever liquid we’re stepping through, unsure if it came from a vial or from a person. I don’t look too closely, already having to swallow back bile at the very thought of it being organic. I know what samples Vanik drew from me. I know the possibilities all too well.

“What do you suppose happened here?” Cami whispers.

I can only shake my head, having no idea. There’s no sign of anyone. No Vanik, no Manning. No Ward, either.

My last thought prompts me to draw the compass up to my eyes again. The pointer is spinning in a circle. I’m not sure what that means, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s an indication that we’ve reached our target.

“Look,” I say, showing it to Cami.

She takes the compass from me and taps her fingernail against the glass. Squinting, she asks, “Is it broken?”

“Did it ever work to begin with?” I return, unsure. It’s not like I’ve experimented with people-tracking devices before, let alone ones I’ve Spoken into creation. “It could have just lead us on a—”

Before I can finish, a panel in the side wall slides open. I didn’t even know there was another access point to the lab. Yet another of Lengard’s secrets.