Flashback ( PDFDrive )

Tarina shuddered. “If that is true, then . . . then that is all the more
reason to keep them sealed away. If their experiments had been
successful, I would’ve heard of their triumph.”
“Well, then it’s time for the world to see their failings. Unseal the
hive!” Vespera ordered again.
Alvar pointed to the metal. “How? There’s no handle—no latch.”
“Ugh, you really are worthless,” Umber said, shoving him aside and
sending shadows skittering across the door, brushing away the light
layer by layer and revealing a panel that must’ve been hidden by
another of Luzia’s illusions.
Sophie let out a relieved breath. “That will need Luzia’s DNA!”
“Exactly,” Vespera said, holding up a vial that looked a lot like the
one that Fitz had given Sophie for the override. “And Orem happily
provided some.”
“You have no idea how much you’re going to regret this,” Tarina
warned as Vespera handed the vial to Alvar.
“I assure you, I am beyond regret,” Vespera said. “Go ahead, Alvar.
Show us your family’s legacy.”
Alvar stepped toward the panel, and Sophie couldn’t help
wondering if such enormous stakes had ever come down to a vial of
spit. But then the panel was flashing green—the light almost glaring
in the dark clearing—and there was a rushing sound, like an air lock
unsealing. Rotten, sour fumes slammed against their senses, making
them gag and cough as the door swung slowly open, and Sophie
palmed one of her only throwing stars as they stared into the space
beyond.
The round, sunken room had several metal stairways leading down,
lit by the orange glow from some sort of technical panel in the center.