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“We need to help them,” I whispered urgently.
“Not until I get you to safety,” he insisted.
I shook my head.
“No, we can’t leave them. We’ll never get another chance like this. Look at them.”
The women continued staring at us, their eyes wide, shadowed by all the pain they had endured at the hands of the Patrol. Adreax closed his eyes and I could see his lips moving. I couldn’t tell if he was praying or cursing under his breath. Probably both, if I had my guess.
“Can you walk?” he asked me.
“I think so. Let me down.”
He lowered me to the ground and waited for me to test my legs before he removed his hands from around my waist. My feet still felt like they were asleep, and my knees were wobbly, but I gave him a smile and a thumbs up, assuring him that I would be okay.
“Go. I’ll work on the door.”
He watched me a second longer, and I could tell he was reluctant to leave my side, but when I shooed him again, he turned and went for the first row of desks.
I reached for the control panel on the door. Really, I just needed an excuse to lean against the wall before I crumpled. I pressed buttons on the panel, growing more and more frustrated as each attempt failed to open the doors.
Suddenly, a woman appeared at my side. She was tall and willowy, her skin pale and her hair thinning.
“Here, let me do it.”
She reached past me and pressed a series of buttons to unlock the door from inside.
“How-“
“I’ve spent all this time watching them come and go through this door. I memorized the code long ago.”
Sure enough, the inner door was already sliding open and other women were joining us, hurrying in as the opening widened and huddling together fearfully. There were already three more, and I saw Adreax crossing the room with a fourth woman. Looking past him, I saw dozens of others waiting for their turn.
“What about them?” I hissed as Adreax reached my side.
He looked down at me regretfully.
“We can’t take them all, Tayla. You know that. It’s already going to be hard to get this many out of here safely. My ship doesn’t have room for any more.”
Guilt felt like a stone in the pit of my stomach, weighing me down. There were so many of them. Leaving them behind was a death sentence. It was too much for me to contemplate.
“I’m sorry, Tayla. I wish there was more I could do.”
I looked up into his eyes, holding back tears.
“We will come back for them,” I stated. It was not a request. “Promise.”
He hesitated, but a second later he nodded, running a thumb across my cheek to wipe away the tears that fell.
“I promise. I will not give up until they are all free. For you.”
The inner door slid closed, and I lost sight of the despairing women on the other side. Their voices rose in another wave of cries for help, but I had to ignore them. When the outer door opened, their cries were drowned out by the rain.
“What now?”
My voice was shaking.
“We run.”
