Page 158 of Crimson Tears

He gestures to the building beside us.

“How do you know that?” I ask, suspicious that maybe this kid is working for them. It wouldn’t make sense with the scene I just witnessed, but anything is possible.

The boy moves to my side slowly, making me recognize the height difference. He looks smaller now, even if he is being brave.

“There are five of us who pay attention. We have done our best to keep as many safe as we can, and we’ve all been waiting for someone to come rescue us. Are you here to get us out?”

The way this kid is looking at me is impressive. His bravery and determination reminds me of Evie.

“We’re here to get you guys out, yes.”

“And then what?” The kid tilts his head, assessing me.

I shrug. “Whatever you want. If you want to go back to your families, we’ll arrange it. If not, we’ll find a safe place for you to live.”

“We all get our own choice?” he asks.

“What’s your name, kiddo?” Damien asks, and I swear the child looks like he wants to bite him.

“We aren’t kids.” He snaps before realizing his reaction. “But my name is Kai.”

Damien lets the hostility run right past him.

“Cool, I’m D. We’re kinda short on time here since Nessie here just said screw it to our plan in order to make sure these guys didn’t put a bullet in your brain.”

I shove him, but he acts like he doesn’t notice. “Listen, I swear, on my life, what happens to you from this moment on will be all your choice. I won’t lie, we aren’t good guys, but we aren’t monsters who prey on children.”

Kai watches him for a minute before nodding.

“Come with me.” He takes my hand, and I can feel him trembling.

He almost died, and then we showed up out of nowhere. This has to be a lot to process. When we get to the building, he enters a code into the padlock and the door clicks open.

“I pay attention,” he says with a half smile.

I smile back at him and pat his shoulder. This actually might be the bravest kid I’ve ever met.

“We’re entering the south building,” I say over comms.

Once it’s clear that the four guards we took care of were the ones meant to watch this area, I signal to the drone that we’re good.

“Guards all down on the north side,” Alexi states.

“Lev tells us you made a friend,” Evie throws in, and I smile at Kai as we follow him in.

Bright lights greet us inside of a small steel bunker. Kai moves to the first cot and nudges the boy there, who looks about the same age as him.

“We’re getting out of here,” Kai says. This gets almost everyone’s attention. Those whose heads don’t immediately pop up are rubbing the sleep from their eyes as the boys next to them wake them.

All of the kids look at us with both suspicion and hope. Then, they look at Az standing at Damien’s heels. Some of them seem to relax, but others stiffen.

There are at least fifteen of them here, and I don’t want to cause a panic.

“There are some people here to rescue us,” Kai announces.

“How do we know we can trust them?” An older kid with short brown hair asks.

“They could just lock us up too,” another kid with light curly hair states.

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