Underground, where the Sterling royalties had tracked down where One kept the people he copied his powers from, Evangeline knelt in front of the nearest cage and tore the lock apart with her bare hands.
The man inside barely reacted. He sat curled against the back wall, ribs visible through skin gone gray and thin, eyes half-lidded and unfocused, and when the door swung open he flinched at the light rather than the freedom.
"Easy," Evangeline said, reaching in slow. "You're safe now. We're getting you out."
He let her pull him upright, but his legs wouldn't hold, and she caught his full weight against her shoulder while Matthias moved down the row, tearing chains and locks apart one after another, four more cages opening in quick succession, four more people who looked like they'd forgotten what standing on their own felt like.
