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The smell had given it away, too. He picked up the sharp scent of synthetics, the earthy smell of gel capsules, and something else he couldn’t quite place. He only understood what it was when they found the room marked as manufacturing and stepped inside. It was the nanobots that were mixed into the drug. Their smell was like something between burnt rubber and hot metal.
Letting his eyes take in the facility, Levi saw a fully automated production line, the vastness of which was almost unfathomable. He couldn’t see the end of it, and as Cora stepped up beside him, he heard her gasp.
“Whoa,” she whispered under her breath.
Levi nodded solemnly, taking it all in. He knew Motley was a huge operation, but he never expected such an enormous facility. It was possible this wasn’t just a facility, but the facility. There was a distinct possibility that the majority of the galaxy’s Motley production—if not all—was happening right here.
“I don’t know how we’re going to destroy all this,” Cora said beside him. “I didn’t think it would be so big.”
Levi looked down at the energy pistol hanging by his side. He might be able to destroy a few machines with it, but it would hardly make a dent in the overall operation. They needed something bigger.
He let his hand drop to his pistol absentmindedly, but as he did, he felt a familiar icy cold brushing against his wrist.
“The stone,” he whispered, bringing his hand to rest on the small satchel he kept attached to his belt, which had carried the Desolation Stone since they left Jorvla.
Cora told him about the Jorvlen research she’d found, about the power that could be wielded just by using the stone in its raw state.
But Cora had a horrified look when she spoke, understanding his suggestion.
“You can’t, Levi. It’s way too unstable.” She clutched at the hand that was flirting with opening the satchel.
“You know there’s no other way,” he told her. “If we don’t use the stone, we came all this way for nothing. If we don’t use it, the Jorvlens will keep hurting beings all over the galaxy with this diabolical drug.”
Cora wore a pained look, and Levi knew she was grappling with the risk. But after a moment, something shifted in her. She nodded.
Rather than pulling his hand away from the satchel, she let her palm rest against the back of his hand. Together they reached in and pulled out the stone.
The smooth, multifaceted gem was still icy cold, and its freezing aura emanated through his hand. Cora gasped, but she didn’t let go.
“We just have to concentrate. And be incredibly careful,” Cora whispered. Levi could hear the pain in her voice as she struggled to hold on. He had thicker skin than her, and he couldn’t imagine how biting it felt against her smooth skin.
Levi nodded, closed his eyes, and did his best to concentrate on the energy of the stone. For a while, it seemed nothing was happening, but then, ever so slowly, the icy bite began to drop away. Soon, to his surprise, the stone began to glow warm.
Levi’s eyes shot open, and the blue-white center of the Desolation Stone was now a fiery orange, pulsating with an aura that shimmered in the air around their hands.
“Now!” Levi called, and he sent all his energy into destroying the room.
A pulse of orange light suddenly shot forth from the stone, like a shockwave rippling through the room. Levi felt his hand suddenly turn cold again. He looked wide-eyed at Cora and then pocketed the stone once more.
“We need to get out of here!” he cried, feeling a sudden tremble running through the building.
She nodded, and the two of them ran. As they bolted up the hallway, chunks of plaster began to rain down on their heads. Levi pulled Cora in front of him and hunched over her, shielding her from the falling debris with his back.
But the place was falling apart far too quickly for this plan to hold up for long. They made it to the stairwell, but entire walls were coming down now. Levi knew they had to get out of there. Now.
As they ran up the stairs toward the entrance they’d used before, Levi felt the stairs begin to crumble beneath his feet.
“Go!” he yelled, and they made it to the landing just in time.
But they still had to get down one last hallway before the whole building collapsed. Alarms were blasting through the first floor where they now found themselves, and their path was littered with fallen debris, some from the inner walls and some from the ceiling above them.
Cora was ahead of him, jumping deftly over piles of plaster and brick while dodging panels falling from the walls. Levi, coming up from behind to protect her from pursuers, plowed right through them.
Up ahead he saw the door they’d come through flung wide open now, either from the shaking building or from others’ attempts to escape.
Cora ran out just as the outer wall buckled and collapsed. Levi found himself pushed from the building by the inner walls caving sideways, and for a second, he didn’t know if he’d been trapped inside or if he’d made it out the door.
All he felt was a mass pressing on him, pushing him to the ground as the horrible cacophony of destruction sounded all around him.
