Chapter 100

Elena’s POV Sneaking through the hallway felt like walking inside a ticking bomb. The lights were dimmed for the night shift, and every few steps I expected an alarm to scream or a guard to turn the corner. Zaky moved ahead of me, barefoot, careful, his shoulders tight with nerves. We’d memorized the patrol pattern earlier; three minutes of silence, then footsteps, then silence again. The medicine room door was locked. Zaky crouched, pulled out a thin metal pin, and worked fast. My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure it would give us away. Click. The door opened. We slipped inside and shut it quietly behind us. The room smelled sharp and clean, like chemicals and cold air. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, filled with vials, syringes, and sealed containers, rows and rows of them. This was it. The heart of Magmus’s operation. “Hurry,” I whispered. “We don’t have much time.” Zaky rushed to the counter, grabbing one vial after another, reading labels, frowning. “These are