Chapter 38

Stefan had eased through the doorway on the second floor when he heard Nicki's cries. He was on an open catwalk that led to an enclosed overseers' room, and though the door to that room was closed, it had a window. He saw the guard jerk up his head from a drowse and lean on the counter, distracted by the chaos below.

Then Stefan burst through the door.

The man half-turned as Stefan smashed into him, but the room was so tight that the guard couldn't get his gun around in time. Stefan sent the weapon skittering across the small space with a fast, jabbing punch. The man wasn't completely without protection though—Stefan's first strike grazed his shoulder and he realized that the thick material overlaid even thicker muscle. The guard had a padded vest and steel-toed boots, and his hands were thick and beefy as he whirled.

He snarled in rage and rushed Stefan.

Stefan dodged his first attack and dived for the control board, rapidly scanning the buttons with the Turkish inscribed beneath them. Unfortunately, complete words had long since been worn off, leaving bare scraps. He hit a few buttons and nothing reacted in the room beyond.

The guard reacted, though. With a snarl he picked up a thick baton and instead of running with it at Stefan he flung it. It arced in a deadly rush and Stefan ducked, the beam crashing through the window and dropping a story to the floor below.

That's when Stefan heard the howls.

His momentary distraction gave the guard an opening. He attacked, his thick, meaty hands clawing up Stefan's clothing and locking around his neck. Stefan flung himself back onto the console and braced himself against it, but he couldn't get enough purchase to dislodge the ox. The man dragged him over the controls and then Stefan saw it—a separate panel with newer buttons and levers. The doors were new, too—that's where the correct buttons would be.

He didn't waste any more time. He caught the man in a round-house punch that knocked him off balance long enough to allow Stefan to flip around. In rapid succession, he hit the buttons on the top and bottom level, everything he could find before he risked a glance out at Nicki again. She'd dashed off the table, yes, but she wasn't alone.

The cages had all sprung open as well.

And deep within the bowels of the building, an unearthly roar sounded.