Zed didn’t join me at the table. Instead, he joined Bravo and a small boy. He knelt down so the kid, who couldn’t have been older than ten, could squeeze his arms around Zed’s neck. As the boy reached for him, I spotted wounds on the inside of his elbow. Perfect little puncture marks like a needle—or fangs—would make.
The sight made my stomach cramp with disgust. The guards didn’t waste their time helping themselves to the fresh blood.
Matri saw me staring and sidled closer. “What’s your name?
I glanced at her, surprised she didn’t recognize me, but then I remembered the state of my face. “Carmina.”
Her eyes widened. “Carmina Sargosa?” she whispered, looking around to be sure no one else heard.
I froze. “You’ve heard that name?” Most of the humans I’d run into had heard of Meridian Six because of the Troika’s propaganda campaign. Carmina Sargosa—the name my mother had given me—was a name even the rebels refused to use because they believed it lacked the power of my Troika-given name.
Matri nodded. “I’ve seen your face every day for the last decade.” A rueful look crept over her face. “Although I wouldn’t have recognized you looking like this.”
I touched the bruises on my cheek. “We were afraid the guards would recognize me.”
She nodded. “Smart. You two got a plan?”
Her segue was so abrupt it took me a moment to respond. “Blow shit up and run.”
She laughed out loud. “No, really.”
I stared at her long enough for it to sink in that I wasn’t joking.
“Where are your bombs, then, girl?”
“The mines. Someone has to know where the dynamite is kept.”
Matri snorted. “We all know where they are. You think we don’t? The problem is getting past the bats and the guards.”
“Look, I got a train and a plan to blow up the mines. You got a better plan, I’d like to hear it.”
She crossed her arms. “Thought you’d come with more.”
“Lady, do you have any idea the risk we took just sneaking the two of us inside?”
“I do,” she said. “I just hope it’s enough. Because if we don’t figure out how to get out of here
by sundown, you’re going to be joining our little resort permanently.”
I frowned. “Why sundown?”
“When the vampires emerge from their underground bunkers at sundown, the first thing they do is take a roll call of all the prisoners.”
Cold sweat broke out on my back. Icarus hadn’t mentioned that detail. “Shit.”
“You got that right, girlie.” She started to say something else, but at that moment, three other people walked in the door. A very tall man of Asian origin entered first. The woman was unremarkable except for the bright red skin of her hands. The second man worked in the mines, which I knew instantly from the artificial blackness of his skin.
“Ah, here they are,” Matri said, moving to greet them. “This is Wu.”
The Asian guy came forward. “My name is Alex. Everyone here just calls me Wu because they’re ignorant.”
I ignored the jab at his fellow prisoners. “Nice to meet you, Alex.”
Matri snorted, as if she thought he was joking, but it was clear from his expression he was not. “Anyway, this is Cleo, she runs the wash house, where they clean the guard’s uniforms.” I nodded to the woman with red hands as Matri turned to the final man. “And this is Tuck, he obviously works the mines.”
He tipped down his chin, but made no other move to greet me. It was hard not to stare at his black skin and white eyes, so I forced my gaze to return to Matri.
“This is Carmina Sargosa. You may have heard her called Meridian Six.”