Page 176 of Storm Caller

“Rook!” I cry out and run over, slamming my fists against the thick glass, but he doesn’t react. He hangs, suspended, with his arms outstretched and his hair floating around his head like a funeral wreath. His eyes are closed, and his face is soft, almost as if he’s really just asleep.

I spin around. “Get him out!” I shout.

Navy and Justin are staring up at their brother, their faces pale and their eyes slightly glazed. I storm over to Mowry and point at the tank.

“Is he dead?” I ask. “How do we get him out?”

“He’s being added to the network,” Mowry says, gesturing to the wires running from the tank and stretching to the roof.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask, my voice pitching into hysterics.

I’m so angry I can barely think. Hardly breathe. It feels like someone has wedged a tight knot of gum down my throat. Red bleeds across my vision, and my hands shake.

“Can we get him out?!”

Mowry shakes his head, wiping his eyes with the back of a hand. “She only wanted to protect everyone. She had good intentions.”

“I don’t give a fuck what her intentions are. I want him out!”

Mowry’s gaze shifts between me, Justin, and Navy.

Justin holds up his gun and points it at the doctor. “If you don’t get him out this instant, I won’t hesitate to make you suffer.”

Mowry scoffs. “You think I want to live with this?” he asks. “The guilt. It’s eaten away at me for decades. I see their faces. The fear when they realize what’s about to happen. They can’t scream. They can’t do anything, but I see it in their haunted eyes. Every time we cure them, the horror begins all over again.”

Mowry drops to his knees, curling into himself, and he sobs and sobs.

“We won’t kill you,” Navy says, striding over and dropping to her haunches. “We have much more colorful ways of making you suffer.”

Mowry barely registers her growled threat as he continues crying. Skies, he’s a wretched sight. Calliope comes next. She stomps over and hauls him up by the back of his shirt.

“You want out of this city? You want to escape this shame? Redeem yourself. Fix this,” she says, getting in his face. “Get. Him. Out.”

Her expression is hard and cold, unforgiving. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly nods.

“Good,” she says, dragging him to his feet. “And while you’re at it, show us where the cure is stored.”

Mowry stumbles a few steps toward a bank of computers on the far wall. “Here,” he says, pointing to a black rectangle flashing with blue and red lights. “If your friend’s drive works, this is where you can download the information.”

Henry approaches, drawing out the data drive from Edward.

“Can you see us?” Henry asks into his headset, scanning the room for security cameras.

“You won’t find any surveillance in here,” Mowry says while Henry listens to Edward. “But I swear to you this is the right one.”

“Good?” Henry asks into his headset again, pausing to listen, then finds the slot and inserts it into the computer. “Edward says ten minutes. Enough time to get Rook out.”

Mowry crosses the room, approaching another panel nailed to the wall. With shaking hands, he begins pressing buttons, whimpering to himself.

A light flashes red, and a buzz sounds, almost like an error.

Mowry frowns.

“What’s happening?” Justin asks, clutching his weapon.

Mowry shakes his head and repeats the sequence. “It seems she’s changed the access codes.” Again, he presses several buttons and receives another error.

“Get him out,” Justin demands. “Now!”