Lauren threw herself to the side as the beast pounced. It splashed down where she had been a blink ago.

  Her back hit the moldering wall of the too-small room. The beast’s girthy body took up the entire center of the basement. It attempted to pivot to face her again. Its movements were clunky, metal hands slipping and scraping on the uneven floor. It released a metallic, animalistic screech like rusty gears grinding together.

  Lauren’s heart pounded as she slipped through the narrow space between the wall and the creature’s broad flank. There was a stairwell entrance just a few feet away. What was left in it, she didn’t know, but it looked too small for her to be followed easily. She had to get back up to Mara.

  She made it to the entryway, which quickly became illuminated by the creature’s eye casting bloody light. It was facing her again. Lauren put her weight on the second stair. Almost immediately, it sagged and broke underneath her. She fell onto her thigh. Crash, crash of plodding behind her. She only had a second. She grabbed the higher steps with quickly-formed claws and willed them to hold as she pulled upwards.

  BOOM!

  The hall frame nearly buckled as the creature slammed its body into the entrance. A metal hand obliterated the steps Lauren had just hauled herself from. Wood protested with each slam from the crazed beast. Hand over hand, Lauren slinked up the stairs, not trusting her weight compressed on her two feet. Her hands and clothes gathered slime from a century of rot. She gagged from the smell of it. She didn’t stop when she felt certain steps buckle under her knees or elbows. Painfully slowly, she left the creature behind and returned to “ground level” of the building.

  Finally, the stairs ended, and she was again on cracked floor.

  The beast raged below her, bellowing a roar choked with something like pain. Once its cry ceased, a rumbling jolted the foundation. It sounded like rubble being moved. Maybe the creature got around with its mole-like claws, creating its own tunnels.

  Lauren panted and choked on the air saturated with dust and decay. She was sopping wet, filthy, and her missing fingers still throbbed. She had to grab Mara and return to the surface. This wasn’t a two-person job. At least not when one of them didn’t bring anything to a fight except a flashlight. The monster of the Warrens would throw her around like a ragdoll.

  She got to her feet and stumbled through the open entrance of whatever building she had crawled up into. Back on the dark street, her eyes searched the shapes of things beyond the slash of light from the dropped flashlight for Mara. The more she focused, the better her night vision became. Her hearing became more focused just by willing her ears to pick up more.

  There. Down the street, Mara struggled. More of those small child-sized figures around her. They were tugging her away. Lauren began sprinting toward them.

  Another rumble shook the street. Lauren didn’t pause. She rushed forwards, able to pick out more details as she got closer. The small creatures had affixed manacles to Mara’s wrists. Several of them pulled her by a long chain. They must have moved in quickly right after Lauren fell into the basement.

  Mara struggled to turn back to Lauren, but the creatures pulled her forwards. Each of them wore body-covering hooded outfits, under which could only be seen glowering red eyes. Maybe eight little creatures in total, five of them pulled Mara’s chain. The teenage girl looked back at Lauren with wide, frightened eyes. A metal muzzle had already been roughly clamped around her face.

  One of the diminutive creatures not pulling Mara away scrabbled forward and pointed a clearly-inhuman claw at Lauren. It spoke quickly in its weird tongue. Another holding a man catcher pole with another chain wrapped around its torso stepped up to block her charge. A third stood at the ready.

  If these little shits thought Lauren was going to be as easy to nab as Mara, they were about to be in a world of fucking hurt. No one else was being taken from Lauren. She’d kill them. Her mind and the fighting sense sharing it were in full agreement on that. These creatures were about to die. Her mind and body sung in raging harmony in the slaughter she was about to unleash. For once, she felt fully tapped into the full potential of her powers. She felt the killer inside her. And she didn't want it to go anywhere.

  Again, her vision sharpened as she took in every detail. The world around her slowed.

  No one would ever take anyone from her again.

  She went for the weaponless creature first. The sole of her boot caught it in the face. Her momentum carried her downward, until she was standing on top of its head.

  Crunch.

  Something important-sounding inside the hood broke cleanly. Probably either a skull or neck.

  The man catcher came pitifully slow for her neck. Lauren grabbed it with one hand. She yanked the pole out of the creature’s grip. Pulling it back, she stabbed the blunt end into the hood. It caught on something inside. The creature’s yelp died before it even began. It made a choking sound, then fell.

  That left one more between her and the ones tugging Mara away. They were twenty feet down the street, heading for a hole in the cobblestone not far beyond that. Her mind made cold calculations at the speed of thought. Two seconds to pick up the last obstacle and eliminate it. Three more seconds to reach Mara. Pull her away from their grasp. Then dispatch the rest quickly.

  Without deciding to, she reached for the last creature before her. It had something in its grip. She didn’t realize what it was until she picked up the creature and held it at head height. A small whistle.

  Eee—

  It managed a half-second of shrill noise before Lauren’s spiked fist slammed into its shadowed face. Her knuckles came away stained as she dropped the limp body.

  Now, for the—

  The ground underneath Lauren exploded.

  Her head and back hit the ground. Cobblestones rained and crashed around her. Knocked out of her fighting state, Lauren scrambled backwards.

  Something hauled itself out of a gaping gash it had just created in the street. It wasn’t the same monster as before. It was similar, but it was clear already this one was even larger. Massive, humped shoulders rose from the swelling brickwork. Jaundiced muscle bulging with veins and interlaced with crude machinery. A head reared. Metal, and looking like an ancient gladiator helmet with a red mechanical eye slightly off-center. Grotesquely muscled arms heaved the creature’s bulky torso upwards and outwards. One arm was capped off by a massive drill replacing its hand. The entire street shook as it stood to its full height. At least twelve feet tall.

  Okay, now that had to be the monster of the Warrens.

  There was no way to get to Mara with this thing in front of her. They had probably already reached their escape. All Lauren could do was wheel backwards as the monster bounded towards her.

  It crossed the distance between them in three strides. Its drill arm rose in the air, spinning up as it went. Lauren knew what came next.

  Her reflexes just barely saved her. She threw herself backwards onto her butt. The drill smashed down, its tip chewing up the street like stale toast. Golf ball-sized bits of debris flew outwards and struck Lauren’s arms and face. She braced and got back on her feet as quickly as she could.

  She couldn’t fight this goliath. Not alone. Not in the dark. So she ran back the way they came. Even as she made the logical choice, her heart screamed to turn around and do anything possible to stay with Mara. But these things weren’t trying to capture Lauren anymore. They’d kill her before they put her in chains. Too dangerous. She kept her legs pumping. She’d come back and find some way to rescue her. She had to tell herself that if she was going to survive.

  It took the giant precious seconds to stop its drill attack and haul it back upwards, seconds Lauren used to escape. But she knew the distance she was making would evaporate once it started moving again. Her eyes scanned for the crack in the pipe they had entered from. It was the only exit she knew. Feet thundered behind her.

  There. The pipe ran through the back of two buildings. Water trickled from the bottom. Lauren scrambled back up the slick hill to it.

  Red light once again found her. The giant monster loomed. The crack was just up ahead. Thoughts of escape flashed through her mind.

  The crack was a fence.

  The darkness was a dust storm.

  Mara was Rachel.

  The approaching monster was the doctor’s man Isaac.

  She felt the hand on the back of her jacket. The fence was inches from her outstretched fingers.

  She hit the crack so fast it scraped both her shoulders. She turned to position correctly and scrambled through. She fell downwards into the chilling stream. Red light flooded the pipe as the monster leered outside. She had to keep moving. Not safe yet.

  Lauren splashed five feet up the tunnel. Just enough time to get out of the way as the drill came smashing through the crack. The entire side of the pipe bent and crumbled inwards. The drill’s spinning tip hit the opposite end.

  Lauren turned and started running. She was heading further away from her and Mara’s starting point. Further into the darkness she didn’t know how to navigate. There was no turning back. The monster tried to force its bulk into the tunnel, blocking the other way. It roared after her, a sound so deep and primal it forced Lauren to pause and shudder.

  Don’t think. One foot after another. You’ll regroup and plan. One foot after another.

  Don’t think about how you left her behind.

  For a distance she couldn't measure she waded through tunnels with no exits. Her mind empty and buzzing. Her feet so waterlogged she was pretty sure the meat would slough off if they weren’t held together by her boots. Her chest burned with angry tears that didn’t make it past the tightness in her throat. She couldn’t think about Mara being dragged away into the darkness by monsters. She just couldn’t. If she did, she’d break down in the tunnel and wait to die. That wouldn’t help anyone. Keep moving. Keep moving.

  She reached a maintenance area without realizing it at first. The tunnel was broken up by a two-story square room, filled with valves and electrical panels. A ladder led up to a platform with a maintenance door. A few caged lights provided ambient glow.

  Lauren looked up at the door. It probably led to the surface. She pivoted to approach it.

  A presence halted her. She turned again to where the tunnel restarted on the other side of the room. Someone stood just beyond where the light reached. Smooth face. Cloaked body. It was Maudlin again.

  Lauren’s mouth twitched. She said nothing. She didn’t form any weapons. Things were simple now. She was going to go home and get backup to rescue Mara. Anything or anyone attempting to stop that goal was going to die. Maudlin could stand there and watch her leave if she wanted to. Or her corpse could be left for the rats to have.

  Lauren moved to leave. Maudlin parted her cloak with her gloved hand. She motioned for Lauren to stop. Lauren watched her with caution.

  Her hand turned, and she beckoned Lauren forward with two fingers. She turned and left down the tunnel.

  Lauren looked up at the door. An easy way out. Fresh air. Dryness. Safety. Backup.

  She looked down the dark tunnel, down which was someone who earlier today had tried to kill her, probably leading her towards more people who would be perfectly happy to kill her.

  So why was she considering option 2?

  Come find me when they fail you, Lilith had said. This was why she was down here. To find people who knew something. Maudlin could be a trap. Or she could be an extension of Lilith’s invitation. Was it insane to follow, just to see? Of course it was. She had to go rally her teenage classmates to go fight giant and small underground monsters.

  My whole life is insane, Lauren opined.

  This was a terrible idea. She should not follow the creepy supervillain down a dark tunnel alone. She did it anyway.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Maudlin was not talkative as Lauren followed. Even when Lauren angrily pointed out the fingers she was missing, which had already reformed to the first joint, she kept guiding silently, her boots seeming to step through the water without disturbing it.

  The path they traveled was much more winding and intricate than any Lauren had followed Mara through. They passed through more junctions and cisterns, taking sudden turns instead of heading straight. They went down hatches and ladders that Lauren previously hadn’t noticed. At one point Maudlin even pressed on a brick and a section of wall swung on a hinge. This led to a dry tunnel that seemed purely for walking, lights embedded in the walls at equal intervals. Lauren started to get the feeling she was being led to something significant.

  The dry tunnel went on for some time. Lauren stared at the back of Maudlin’s glossy hair bouncing as she strode. She thought about just grabbing that hair and slamming the New Lord against concrete until she was unconscious, then dragging her to the surface. She was still pissed about the fingers. But she had a feeling she was about to get more by cooperating than by kidnapping. There was always the option to get violent later.

  She heard their destination before she saw it. A vague echo of noise filled the hall, growing incrementally louder as they walked. It was a buzz of commotion, with only a few distinct sounds occasionally breaking through the static. Like the lunch room when Lauren showed up on a busy night, except more chaotic and discordant.

  Lauren clenched her fist. Whatever she was being led to wasn’t going to be some private meeting. And she was almost certainly going to be outnumbered strength-wise. Maudlin continued onward.

  The end of the tunnel became visible. What was beyond it was hard to tell, except for a walkway and some railing. The sound reached a crescendo, bouncing off the walls of what was clearly a large space.

  They stepped onto the walkway. Lauren grasped the railing and leaned forward to take it in. Her pain and anguish at losing Mara temporarily lowered.

  “Woah…”

  They had entered what could be called a cavern. The space was domed-shaped, the tunnel they entered near the top at least fifty feet off the ground. More tunnels honeycombed the rough stone walls. The entire edge had a network of crisscrossing scaffolds and walkways connecting all the different entrances and recesses. Smaller areas had been carved out and furnished into rooms, some looking like bars, others like game rooms or lounging areas loaded with rugs and plush seating. Lights hung from the ceiling, diffusing enough to see by, while electricity hummed through fridges, light strips, haphazard signs, and more devices all showing the place had plenty of power to draw on. The center of the cavern was set up like an arena, with rows of seats all surrounding a sunken dirt-floored pit currently empty.

  Lauren’s eyes roved over the inhabitants of the cavern, at least sixty teenagers and young adults. They went about their business talking, walking between rooms, sitting around, sleeping, grinding on each other to music, or shoving each other around and yelling. No one looking older than early twenties at the latest. Many of them wore ripped clothes and some had brightly dyed hair, piercings, and tattoos. Not many looked like they attended school regularly. Some were visibly supernatural, having horns or strange skin or other mutations. Some in costumes. Lauren recognized Vena sitting below, the girl who had raked her face with venomous claws in the museum.

  “This is where you New Lords meet? Why did you bring me here?” Lauren’s fingers gripped the railing tightly. She wasn’t just outnumbered. She had walked into a pit of snakes. She considered decking Maudlin and running back into the tunnel. How far would she get? Probably wouldn’t make it very far, even if she got past the secret wall entrance.

  Maudlin wasn’t acting like she had orchestrated an ambush. She gave Lauren a moment to process things, before turning and walking down the nearest flight of stairs. Lauren exhaled and followed, making a mental note of where they had come in from.

  As they walked down the scaffold, they passed others moving up and down. Most gave Lauren clear visual once-overs. Some looked distrusting of her. One boy licked his lips. No one seemed immediately hostile.

  Maudlin walked her to an alcove midways down the side of the cavern. It had a broad opening, overlooking the arena below with a sort of podium set up in front attached to the scaffolding. Lauren’s eyes weren’t on that for very long, though.

  In the center of the room was a throne, makeshift steps leading upwards to a dark wood seat five feet off the floor. The throne’s occupant sat slouched in her seat, one hand supporting her cocked head. Glossy black lips curled upwards as toxic green eyes surrounded by black widened in excitement.

  Unlike her usual outfit, Lilith was now dressed in a neat schoolgirl’s outfit, a white shirt with a black tie and black jacket and a dark plaid skirt, dark socks and shoes on her feet. Perfect black hair spilled over her shoulders. She sat with one leg up, quite unconcerned with how much of her milky thighs were showing.

  “Lauren!” Lilith crowed. She sat straighter and spread her arms. “Welcome! I’ve been meaning to have you around.”

  Sitting below her feet were a few of Lilith’s cronies. Trophy Hunter, shirtless as always, sat in a plain chair and whittled a stick to a point with a hunting knife. He glowered at Lauren. On the other side of the throne, Usagi rested with her hands behind her head and her feet up on a table. Her bunny mask half rested on her face like a tipped-down hat. Only her mouth and the bottom of her nose could be seen.

  Lauren took this all in. Oddly, she felt a bit less on guard once Lilith had come into view. If anything, she knew Lilith liked to talk. And she seemed to like Lauren for some reason, to a point. Still, Lauren’s hackles were firmly raised under the surface. Lilith was also vicious and unpredictable. She stayed ready to spring into action at any sudden movement. Especially from Usagi, despite how lax she currently looked.

  Chin resting on hand, Lilith regarded Lauren standing there, soaking wet and filthy in contrast to her host’s perfect look. Lilith shook her head and clicked her tongue.

  “You really don’t half-ass anything, do you Lauren? It makes a girl wonder what it’s all for.”

  “What is this place? Why am I here?” Lauren demanded. She tried to sound firm, despite how she felt. She had learned to project ferocity when the odds were bad. Like a desperate cornered animal, which is what she had been many times in Callis.

  Lilith smirked faintly like an older sister unimpressed their child sibling’s threats. She stood and walked down the steps. “Come with me,” she said as she passed Lauren.

  She followed back onto the scaffolding. Lilith’s eyes were on the arena below. Several teens looked up to her. Lauren looked at her as well.

  “Is this the lair of the New Lords?” Lauren guessed.

  “Lair. That’s quaint. This is a little home away from home,” Lilith said. Her voice was serene, lacking its usual sharp edge. She sounded almost normal. Nothing mocking or threatening. Somehow that felt less genuine.

  Lauren nodded to all the different teens. “These are all New Lords?”

  “Some are. Some are our hangers-on. Friends, lovers, goons, bloodbags. Whatever we need.”

  “Why did you have me brought here?” Lauren asked. She showed her hand. “Maudlin attacked me earlier.”

  Lilith turned to face her, gaze passing over her face and hand. A cold pressure washed over Lauren, now so close. It was like a thousand sinister things watched her from the darkness in Lilith’s eyes.

  “Yet you’re fine, aren’t you? Even after meeting our nasty little neighbors.”

  The monsters that had kidnapped Mara. Lauren’s thoughts jumped track.

  “Do you know what those are? They took my friend. I need to find her—”

  Lilith held up a hand to stop her. “Lauren. Slow. I brought you here because I find you interesting. So don’t give me a headache. You’re my guest here, for now. That means you aren’t in danger. So let’s have a calm conversation. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Someone to be truthful with you?”

  Lauren pressed her lips together. She gathered her scattered thoughts and scrambled emotions as she breathed through her nose. That was the core of things. Truth. Even from such untrustworthy lips, she’d take what information she could get and sort it out in safety later.

  “Sorry,” Lauren said.

  Lilith tilted her head at Lauren’s apology. She seemed confused by it, or bemused.

  “You’re taking being here very well,” Lilith said in her pleasant tone. “Is it because this is where you would fall into if we found you first?”

  Lauren looked around at the cavern again. It was ordered anarchy. Teens coming and going, slumming it, doing what they want. Even more so than Bleak Street with the Skells, this is exactly where she would have ended up if she had come to Pacific City alone with powers.

  “Yes.”

  Lilith smiled and shivered slightly. “Truth. Wonderful.”

  This blasé attitude was too weird. She couldn't help but mention it. "You do remember that I almost tore out your throat, right?"

  Lilith patted her hand. "Pah. And I stabbed you. We were doing what we needed to do to survive. It's admirable. I did tell you to come find me."

  That was true.

  “What are the monsters in the Warrens?” Lauren asked carefully.

  “Subterrans,” Lilith answered.

  “What?”

  Lilith shrugged. She propped an elbow against the railing. She called out to a passing teen.

  “Garth! Bring us fries. Hot and salty.” She turned to Lauren. “Do you like fries?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I love fries. I was never allowed processed foods growing up. I’ve tried it all now. Fries are my favorite.”

  “Oookay…” Lauren said. An ambush felt like it would have been easier to navigate.

  “Subterrans,” Lilith continued. “Mole people. Denizens of the hollow world. Whatever you want to call them. Nasty little slavers. They’ve been pushing their way upwards lately.”

  “Why?”

  Lilith was already growing bored of the topic. “Don’t concern yourself with them. You’ll either get killed or enslaved. And between those, you’d want to be killed. That poor soul Maudlin sicced on you was one of their victims in the early stages. Maud reprogrammed its brain, made it her pet. They’ll move on soon.”

  None of this information was comforting in the slightest. Lauren’s stomach turned thinking about Mara being led down into the sunless depths, mangled into some sort of creature. How long did the process take? And why was Lilith so certain they’d be gone soon? The clock on rescuing her was not looking good.

  Lilith seemed to know what Lauren was thinking. She rolled her eyes. “Just forget about her, Lauren. Consider her dead. In fact, forget about all those Rosewell kids.”

  “Why would I do that?” Lauren asked heatedly.

  Lilith looked at her like the answer was obvious. “Because you belong here. We’re your people. You’re not a government puppet. You should be my puppet. I take very good care of my puppets. You need direction. I’ll lead you. Whatever it is you’re looking for here, I’ll give it to you. You’ll never have to worry about thinking for yourself. You’ll be one of my loyal little dogs. That's why I brought you here. So you can take your place.”

  Lilith pitched it so genuinely, so sincerely, Lauren’s mind actually slipped into considering it. Only for a second, before her mind snapped back to Mara and Lucy and all the others.

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you aren’t good people,” Lauren said.

  Lilith shook her head. “No. That’s not the truth. We aren’t good people, but that wouldn’t stop you from joining us. You know how the world really is. Being good is a myth. Everyone is selfish for their own reasons. Some people just want to seem good to the rest. You don’t care about that. You want what you came here for. You want to get it without betraying the people who took you in first.”

  Again, Lilith’s words seeped into her soul despite her guard being up. It was all true. If things were different, she’d be sitting at Lilith’s feet in this underground lair instead of having a sleepover up on the hill. She’d take orders on what to steal just like she used to. Anything in exchange for Rachel.

  Lilith took her silence for acknowledgment. She accepted a paper cone of fries from the teen coming back. Her white teeth delicately nibbled one.

  “What are you looking for?” Lilith asked. Something almost approaching concern or empathy creeping into her voice. Or an uncanny mimicry of it.

  Lauren took a leap, figuring this is what she came here for if BASTION wasn't going to be any help. “My twin sister. We were kidnapped by a mad scientist, I guess you’d call her. Dr. Smythe. I think she might be here in Pacific City.”

  “Mm. Interesting,” Lilith said.

  “Do you know her?” Lauren ventured to ask.

  “Maybe.”

  Lauren scowled. “What do you mean, maybe?”

  Lilith shrugged. “Maybe I know this Dr. Smythe, maybe I’ve never heard of her before. I don’t help people that don’t help me.”

  Lauren balled her hands. Anger ignited inside. She was dangerously close to disregarding being in the center of a New Lords encampment.

  “You want me to help you just for you to tell me if you know Dr. Smythe or not?”

  Lilith remained passive. “I want you to join us. Failing that, I want something for any information I might have.” She snapped up another fry. “It’s the basic concept of trade.”

  “So what would I give you?”

  Lilith smiled. Something familiarly predatory in that, now that she wasn’t trying to lure Lauren onto her side. “I can think of a few things. I think the simplest transaction would be entertainment.”

  Lauren was growing impatient. “Meaning?”

  Lilith swept a hand out. “You may have noticed our humble arena. It gets used a pitiful amount. Look at it, so desolate, so empty of fresh blood.” She fake swooned. “Give me a real fight, Lauren. Wow me.”

  “I’d fight you?” Lauren checked.

  “No.” More fries passed her black lips. “I think we’ve seen how that plays out. No, I’d select a champion.” She turned back to her throne room. She counted off with a black-nailed finger. “Eeeny-miney—Usagi.” Back to Lauren. “You’d fight Usagi. You two make for such a vicious pair.”

  Usagi sat up, shadowed face grinning. “I’ll break her again. But in the arena it’s gonna be permanent. I won’t leave until her skull is split open.”

  Lilith looked at her for her answer.

  “If I win, you’ll tell me what you know about Dr. Smythe? If anything?”

  “If anything,” Lilith confirmed.

  “Now?”

  “Oh, no,” Lilith said. “No, you need a bath and to regrow a few things. We’d need to make some flyers, get some drinks, get the whole class in here. I want it to be a spectacle. No… show up in say, a week?”

  Lilith stuck out a hand spotted with grease for Lauren to shake. Lauren hesitated.

  “I take deals very seriously,” Lilith said gravely. “I have to.”

  Lauren looked down at the hand again. She grasped it firmly, letting the well-kempt girl feel the slime on her hands and the stubs of her regrowing fingers. Lilith had no idea what she was in for. She’d give the queen of the New Lords a spectacle all right. And then she’d get her answers. But first, she needed to get back Mara.

  “I’ll have you escorted back to the surface,” Lilith said. Just then, a boy was walking up to their level. He heard Lilith.

  “I’ll take her,” the boy said. He was a teen in a white lab coat with a black turtleneck underneath. A pair of goggles looped around his neck. Short hair did its best to cover his large, shiny forehead. He had wide, almost bulging eyes.

  “Mack? I suppose you’re as good as anyone,” Lilith said. “Get her topside.” She walked back to her throne. Over her shoulder, she called, “Lauren? It goes without saying that this invitation is only for you. You bring anyone else here, tell them where we are, I’ll know. You’ll never get any help from me. And you’ll never take your rightful place under my foot.”

  Lauren grimaced. “I won’t.”

  Lilith ascended and sat again. “One last piece of advice, Lauren. If you don’t want to be on the right side of things, don’t stay here in this city any longer than you must. Once you have what you’re looking for, find a nice quiet place far away to disappear. Things are going to start going downhill quickly for the ones on your side of the line. I like you, despite it all.”

  “Uh-huh,” Lauren said. “I’ll see you in a week.”

  “I’m counting on it~”

  She followed Mack back upwards. Hands in her coat pockets, he led her to a tunnel entrance. It wasn’t the same as she had entered with Maudlin from, she was pretty sure. The stone tunnel looked identical. It gradually sloped upwards.

  “So, Rosewell, huh?” Mack asked. He had an annoyingly high-pitched voice that didn’t match his size.

  “Yup.” Lauren wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

  “Nice, nice.” He was trying to sound casual. He looked at her with his creepily bulging eyes. “How are the classes? I bet they’re nice.”

  “Can you just get me to the street? I’m a fucking prune here.”

  “Of course, of course.”

  They reached the end of the tunnel, at which Mack pressed some numbers into a keypad. Part of the wall slid away. More sewer.

  “We’re near a ladder to streetside,” Mack said, leading the way. The wall closed up again behind them.

  “How do I find this place again?” Lauren asked, as much as she didn’t want to engage him.

  “We’ll know you’re looking.” He gave a terrible-sounding giggle. “We always know.”

  Great.

  She spotted ladder rungs in the distance. Sweet, merciful gray daylight through grate holes. She got ready to speed up to it.

  “There’s just one last thing,” Mack said.

  She slowed, grunting. She turned to him.

  “What—”

  Lauren froze as she made eye contact with the boy. She swayed in place. Her mind became disconnected from her body.

  “Before you go, I want to have a quick search through your brain…”