The Hollow (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 2) by Ily Maguire Page A

looks
like?
    “It is his
time,” Tithonus tells me. “We all must pass eventually.”
    Tithonus’s hand
hovers above the mouth of the disappeared, then he closes it.
    “He is deceased.
His soul is gone.” He states. “He must be removed.”
    “Is that why
you’ve been brought here? To help them?” I don’t know what I should be feeling.
I’m angry that people have been so disregarded, but sad, too. The body is limp
as Christophe and Leland pick it up from Tithonus’s lap. Eyes still open, they
are glazed over with a pasty film. Christophe, his glasses back on, closes the disappeared’s
eyes and he and Leland carry it away. They lower it into something out of my
line of sight.
    I lean down to
help Tithonus up. His body is frail. I hold his wrist and support his elbow
with my new arm. It is surprisingly gentle.
    “Jenny gave me a
message,” I whisper to Tithonus. No one else is around. His arm coils around
mine. His back is hunched over and we move slowly to the stones at the edge of
the small pool.
    “She said to
tell Leland now is the time to get out. To dig out. Does Leland have a way
out?”
    Tithonus slows
to a stop. His body shifts as he looks up. He turns his head down one of the
dark corridors. He walks me forward, away from all of the other disappeared.
They haven’t moved. Do they even know what just happened? We’ve turned toward
the entranceway of one of the tunnels. One of the spokes.
    “What? What’s
down there?” We stand and stare. Tithonus’s head is back down. He doesn’t
answer.
    Finally, he
speaks, “That is your way out.”
    “What? Down
there?” I don’t see anything other than another dark tunnel.
    “It’s all set,”
Leland is behind us, inhaling and exhaling with gusto, completely out of
breath. He picks up where he left off. Christophe is by his side, he doesn’t
seem as exhausted. “Apparently, Rose had been under surveillance for some time.”
    I walk with
Tithonus back to the stone seat.
    “But why?” I
ask. “It can’t just be about my genetic code.”
    “Jenny thinks
she overheard that someone inside Aegis gave the coordinates away when Rose got
there.” Delia stands behind us. We all turn. She continues, “The Hollow knows
Jenny was your tutor and that your father works for the Imperial Bead. The same
person who gave away Aegis must have given away Jenny as well. Someone inside
Aegis was from The Hollow.”
    JJ and Patience.
    “What does that
mean? Is Jenny in danger?” I ask, helping Tithonus to a seat.
    “That means Dr.
Flint and Rejuvenation Industries know they are being investigated. Jenny’s one
step ahead of them, but this may be our only opportunity for escape,” Delia
tells us. “If they’re preoccupied with the Imperial–”
    Delia stops
talking. More footsteps. Dragging footsteps. They shuffle. Two more disappeared.
They take a laundry bin from one of the other spokes. Naked legs of the
deceased stick out of the bin. This must be the body Leland and Christophe
removed. The bin is pushed slowly down the tunnel and I’m surprised that there
isn’t an attendant. I’m glad for it. Someone must know by now that I’m not
where I’m supposed to be.
    “Dr. Flint knows
how long they have before they expire. She sends others down to collect,” Delia
offers.
    “And then what?”
I think of the morgue.
    “The
incinerator,” Leland says. I shiver. “If they know the Imperial Bead is onto
them, then we could all be in very big trouble.”
    “Why?” I ask.
    “If they’re
being investigated,” Leland begins. “They’ll have to get rid of us. Either
private sale, they traffic us out of here, or—”
    “Or what?” I try
not to panic. Will I be sold?
    “Or they kill
us, Roz. They can’t have us discussing the true Rejuvenation Industries and
what goes on here with anyone from the Imperial Bead. We all know too much.
Once the parts they’ve removed make it to open market, Dr. Flint will have to
defend the human testing she’s been