hugged her close, risking infection and death to comfort her. Jenny leaned her head on Mariella’s shoulder, keeping away from the bare flesh of her neck, and she cried.
“You’ll need some of these.” Esmeralda had opened cabinets in the room and found one stocked with standard baby supplies. She grabbed bottles of premixed formula and a stack of diapers, and she handed Seth a cloth sling, still sealed in the original plastic. “Be sure to support her head.”
“I can’t believe it,” Seth said as Esmeralda helped strap the baby sling around him and secure the baby inside it. The baby snuggled against his chest again, eyes closed. “She’s actually asleep. It’s all gunfire and horror-house out there, and she’s just taking a nap.”
“You’re good for her,” Jenny said. “Your touch.”
“How do we get out of here?” Esmeralda asked.
“They’ll have all four exits covered.” Jenny pulled away from Mariella and wiped her eyes. “Maybe we should find the vent shaft for this section. The vent got you both out of here last time, didn’t it?”
“It got us up there,” Seth agreed. He was still staring at his little daughter, brushing her soft cheek with his fingertip. “I just hope this guy’s access card opens the maintenance doors.”
“Just remember to come with us this time, Jenny,” Mariella said. “Do you promise?”
“Of course.” Jenny managed a small smile, looking at the sleeping baby through her tears. “I’ll never leave her.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Mia climbed the slippery metal rungs inside the vertical tunnel, struggling upward against the air blasting down from the huge intake fan above. The wind was so loud that she and Sebastian couldn’t possibly hear each other unless they shouted, which could draw the guards. Mia didn’t feel like talking, anyway. They’d heard the gunfire echoing from below, and she had felt Juliana’s death like a ripping sensation deep in her heart.
Juliana’s last wish was that Mia and her baby escape the base alive. Her friend had died to protect her, despite her betrayal with Sebastian, for the sake of the little baby. If Mia survived, she and her baby would owe their lives to Juliana.
They stopped climbing when Sebastian, above her, reached the top of the vent. She held on tight, trying not to think about the long, hard drop below if she slipped from the small rungs.
She watched him inspect the giant fan that was in his way, underneath a mesh screen that kept out falling debris. They needed to stop the fan and move the screen aside before they could leave. High-speed wind pounded her face, and she had to scrunch her eyes to watch him inspect the machinery.
Sebastian found the bundle of wires feeding electricity into the fan, grabbed it, closed it eyes, and pulled as hard as he could. An explosion of sparks hit him, scorching his face and hands. The hair at the back of his head caught on fire, and he smothered it with his bare hand.
Mia tried not to cry out in pain as stray sparks landing on her, burning her arm in three places.
“Sorry,” Sebastian whispered, and she could hear him because the fan was quietly slowing to a halt.
The screen beyond it was secured in place by a ring of large screws, and they had no screwdriver. Seth tried the keys on the ring taken from the prison guard until he found a key tooth he could wedge inside the heads of the screws. Turning the screws this way was slow and difficult, and sliced up his fingers until the key was dripping blood, but he managed to gradually remove each one. Mia winced each time he cut himself.
A light flashed over the top of the vent, fully illuminating it in the night. With the alarms ringing, the guards in the watchtowers were swooping the spotlights looking for trouble.
Sebastian climbed up the narrow gap between two fan blades, and one of them scraped open a wide swatch of flesh along his hip.
“Careful,” he whispered down to Mia, his teeth clenched tight with the pain. “The blades are sharp.”
She climbed a little higher, waiting while he heaved the metal mesh to one side like a manhole cover and poked his head into the open air above. Mia smiled. She hadn’t seen the stars in months.
He pulled the screen back into place and ducked as another spotlight hit the vent shaft.
“Now!” Sebastian whispered when it was gone. He pushed the mesh aside and climbed out. Mia threaded her way between the blades, imagining them springing