Page 79 of House of Kallan
I was under a bus now, miraculously somehow not crushed. Covered in dirt and lacerations, yes, but not seriously injured.
Taking a breath, I peeked out and saw the hybrid beasts wandering the street, trying to break in through the windows and door. But they were covered in biotech. Access was onlygranted with a confirmed handprint. Not a fingerprint, but an entire hand.
There were aspects about my being that I rarely used. One of which was my ability to change my appearance. But if I wanted to get to the door, I needed to blend in. Right now, the only way to do that was to appear like a robo-hybrid.
Swallowing my anxiety, I felt the shiver race through my body as it shifted into a shape that matched those wandering the streets and trying to get inside. When I was finished, I shimmied my way out from under the bus.
Several looked at me but paid no attention. For a minute, I joined them. Hitting the windows and yanking on the doors. I continued this all around the perimeter of the building until I reached a section where none of them were.
With a quick look around, I pulled the disguise from my hand alone and pressed it to the pad. It took several tries, but eventually, it turned green, and the door unlatched. Sighing, I hurriedly pushed inside and slammed the door shut, dropping the emergency bars over it for good measure.
I didn’t wait for my appearance to fully melt away as I raced through the halls to the primary body of the building. It was chaos as women screamed. Children cried. The nurses tried like hell to calm them all down.
I grabbed one of the nurses—Jack—and the look of relief he gave me might have been comical at any other time.
“Casualties?” I asked.
He shook his head. “They haven’t been able to break through yet.” The building rocked again. Dust fell from the ceiling as the lights flickered. “But it’s not going to hold out forever.”
“We need to evacuate,” I said.
Jack shook his head. “The other large branches of The Harem Project are under attack too. I tried. When I saw, I barred the door so they couldn’t reach us from the other side.”
What was the plan here? What was Silence after? WithHaven, they might have simply been trying to steal back what was stolen from them. But the rest of the facility?
There wasn’t any time to think about it.
Pulling out my phone, I turned away and scrolled my contacts to click on a number.
“Tatum.”
I sighed. “Bailey, I need somewhere to bring these kids.”
“The rest of the organization is under attack too,” she said, anxiety in her voice.
“I know. Where are you?”
She chuckled and I could hear the darkness in it. “Fighting, darling. Just like you.”
“I wasn’t—no time. I need somewhere to bring them. They can’t fall into Silence’s hand again,” I said.
“Okay, listen to me. In the basement is a door that’s marked ‘water.’ The a is Sanskrit and doesn’t match the rest of the font. That’s how you’ll know you found the right door. Use your hand to open it. It’s a portal to a remote, abandoned village. There are tunnels within the buildings. Use them. I’ll find you when we kill these fuckers.”
“Thanks, Bailey.” I hung up without further conversation. Turning to Jack, I repeated what Bailey said. “Start gathering everyone from this floor and go. I’m heading to the third.”
Jack turned and ran, calling a couple nurses on his way.
I made a quick sweep of the first floor, but didn’t see any of our humans. Taking a breath and internally praying that they were fine, I raced to the third floor, bursting through the door.
It was eerily silent. Swallowing, I pulled the sting knuckles from my pockets. Squeezing them, a sizzling light lit the surrounding area, telling me they were working fine.
Walking forward, I peered in open doors.
“Tatum.” Spinning around, I was suddenly in Aden’s arms. Gripping him tightly, I hugged him against me fiercely.
“You’re okay,” he said.
“Me?! Are you okay?”
