“Oh, you’re easily replaceable. I wasn’t worried about you,” I teased.

  “As if. This kind of charm and good looks are hard to come by.” Cas winked.

  “You’re a dime a dozen,” I said back.

  “Really?” Em turned on us. “We’re stuck in a metal box, and you two think it’s time to start flirting?”

  “Do you have a better suggestion?” I asked, as I stripped off my soaked jacket and began wringing it out.

  Em shook her head, and Cas stuck up his middle finger to her. This wasn’t the first time we’d been in this kind of situation, looking as though we had no way out. But I knew all three of us were working our own way through the many options we had.

  I would suggest we wait and see where this went and what Simon had to tell us. Em would be ready to fight the first person opening the door and hope there weren’t more behind them, which there likely would be. Caspian was already looking for any exits. A vent, lock to pick, anything he could pry open and spring us loose. Nothing. What may seem like giving up and flirting to everyone else was strategic in and of itself. Even Em was aware we were far from giving up—Cas and I just had a bit more patience than she did right now.

  Not that I didn’t sense the urgency, but I’d come to realize that sometimes playing the victim helped you more than fighting back. So instead of clawing at the door like Em looked ready to do, I sat down, took off my tall boots, and leaned against Cas, who had done the same.

  “All right, where are we?” I asked.

  Em sighed and took a seat across from us, near the door, never letting her guard down as she spoke. “Near the city center, maybe three or four blocks north of Command.”

  I didn’t bother counting how many lefts or rights we took. I knew Em would be counting each step and could probably pinpoint where they took us down to the street name.

  Command was where the Watchers were situated, in the center of downtown Cytos disguised as an office building. Commander Reyes and her team took up the top four floors of the high rise, and the rest below had been repurposed with training centers, shooting ranges, and quarters for new recruits.

  All three of us had lived there for a year when we trained. Em lived there longer, staying in the small quarters and joint bathrooms until I convinced her to move in with me, claiming I needed the company, even though she knew it was for her comfort I’d asked her to stay there, not mine.

  “Does this place ring a bell at all? The building they brought us into?”

  “No,” Em said simply. “Outside of a few questionable establishments, none of the buildings within this area have been on my radar.”

  That was the second reason Em was so rattled. She was usually composed, but losing Vic was unsettling, and now discovering that Simon might know something about it had her not quite herself. Along with the fact they’d brought us someplace right in the area we watched, but was entirely unknown, explained Em’s shattered composure.

  “Then I guess we just wait.” Cas shrugged, leaning back against the wall, and I moved with him. He angled himself so I could rest comfortably against his shoulder instead of the cold metal wall.

  And we waited.

  Mercifully, they didn’t make us wait long. We were on our feet at the first sound of footsteps nearing the door. Positioning ourselves around it, we were ready long before the rusted hinges signalled the door was being opened.

  “Come with me.” Simon hardly looked at us as he pushed open the door and turned to leave.

  “No.” I kept my feet planted.

  “Once again, Jayla, that was not a request. That was an order.” Simon’s tone had lost all the amusement I had grown used to. Instead, it was laced with warning and annoyance.

  “Order her to do something one more time. I dare you.” Em had taken a step towards Simon, her sharp, knife-like nails rapping against her crossed arms.

  Simon, to his credit, didn’t so much as pay her more than a second’s notice. “Do you really want to play this game again?”

  I shrugged. “We came here in good faith, and it’s beginning to feel eerily like we’re your prisoners. I’d like some answers before we go any farther.”

  “Fine, stay here.” Simon went to slam the door shut, but Caspian caught it first and ripped it open.

  Simon tipped his head back and let out a long breath before narrowing his eyes at me. “Listen, you will get your answers, as many as we have, and you will give us whatever information you have in return. But until you move, I have nothing to say to you. Either you come with me, or you stay in here until you’re ready to play nice with the grown-ups.”

  My mouth twisted. I bit back the retort I wanted to spit out, and swallowed back my pride. “Fine. Lead the way.”

  Simon walked us out of the metal room and down a small, brightly lit hallway. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, but I could tell by the smell of mold and damp floors this space had been abandoned for some time.

  After a few more turns, we came to a set of blue doors. Simon pushed them open, and the remaining members of his party stood on the other side, along with a familiar face.

  “Commander Reyes?” Caspian mumbled.

  She stepped forward, and as she did, I noticed the lack of guards she usually had at her side. She had come here alone.

  “Jayla, Caspian, Emery.” Reyes inclined her head to each of us as she clasped her hands behind her back. “I’m sorry we had to bring you here this way, but unfortunately I couldn’t risk anyone finding out I was involved in this, even our own people.”

  “What exactly is this all about?” I crossed my arms. “And since when are you working with them?”

  Simon scoffed at the implication, which brought Em’s focus back on him. A low growl settled in her chest.

  “I told you before. Things are changing. Not everyone we once thought was the enemy is,” Reyes said.

  “Okay, so what does this have to do with our…mission?” I chose my words carefully, not needing to reveal any more than what they were giving us, which currently was next to nothing.

  “We’ve been watching the DEZ for longer than you have. We know things aren’t as they seem, and our little attack a few weeks ago unintentionally set off a few trip wires,” Simon said, standing to the right of Reyes as if they were old pals, not sworn enemies.

  “Oh, so you’ve come to us to help fix your problem somehow?”

  “We don’t need your help in any way. We just need your information,” Simon fired back, a scowl across his face. At least it was clear he was about as happy as we were with this team up.

  “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” I tilted my head with a wink.

  “Enough,” Reyes shouted. “This is much bigger than some missing girl. You both will share what each of you know, so we can figure out what the hell is going on.”

  I had to grip Em’s arm to hold her back as she nearly lunged for Reyes. “What do you know about Vic’s disappearance?”

  Reyes glared at Em and her tone. “You would be wise to keep your team in check, Jayla.”

  I pulled Em a step closer to me, and I knew I didn’t have to tell her to hold her tongue. She was smarter than that, even if her emotions were getting the best of her right now.

  Reyes sighed and her shoulders dropped. “Just tell them, Simon.”

  Simon clenched and unclenched his hands. “As you wish.” He reached his hand out and another guard passed him a tablet. “This was what was hidden inside the Genetics Lab, the thing we stole. My former employer had asked me to secure it, but as soon as I realized what it was, I knew it wouldn’t be safe in her hands.” I knew exactly to whom he was referring: Governor Grayson. “We staged the explosion and said someone else had stolen it.” Reluctantly, Simon passed the tablet to me.

  On the screen was a list of names, birth dates, ages, and death dates, none older than twenty-five. All with the words location unknown beside them.

  “What is this?” Em asked, glancing over my shoulder.

  “That is a list of every Marked kid to ever enter the DEZ. Their location outside of the DEZ was never recorded, ‘lost’ our sources tell us. But we’re all smart enough here to read between the lines.” Simon paced a few steps. “Those kids aren’t being educated to move into our society; they are being raised like sheep for slaughter. We just don’t know who’s slaughtering them or why.”

  All the air left my lungs. Em was nearly vibrating, and it was Cas who took a step closer and stood behind her as if he’d catch her when her legs gave out.

  “If you know all of this, why do you need us?” I asked, trying not to let it show that the news hit me as hard as had. My hands were shaking.

  “Because you have someone on the inside. We were able to pick up your tracker and followed it to the same place as you did. That’s farther than we’ve ever gotten,” Reyes said. “Together, I think we can find out what is going on.”

  “How?” Em whispered.

  “We have a suspected location; a place that we’ve had our eye on for a while, but never made a connection to anything specific. We think this might be where they’re taking these kids,” Simon said.

  “And where’s that?” Cas asked.

  “That we can’t divulge just yet.” Simon raised his hand before I could argue. “I can’t tell you because I don’t know the official location. Only that there are transport shuttles that leave without documentation or authorization to anywhere.”

  “Why haven’t you just snuck onto one of the transports then?” I asked.

  “It’s not that simple. We’ve tried.” I noted the men around Simon all shifted, a bit uncomfortable.

  “What aren’t you telling us?”

  Simon chuckled. “A lot.” He shrugged. “But in this instance, all I can tell you is that any man I’ve snuck onto that transport has not returned. I have lost some good men as a cost of trying.”

  “So now you want to send us in to die?” I shook my head.

  “Preferably.” Simon smirked, and Reyes elbowed him in the side.

  “What we’ve found is that Carbons cannot enter this transport. We can’t even get them in with forged documents, as they won’t allow any Carbons on board. This means that whatever is happening to Simon’s men is exclusive to Carbons,” Reyes said.

  Caspian shifted and crossed his arms. “Why not send one of the other Watchers? Why us?”

  Reyes bit her cheek as she glanced between the three of us. She finally let out a long breath and said, “Because you three are the only ones I trust at this point.”

  Chapter 25

  Sienna

  “It’s been almost a week. Where the hell are they?” I whispered, as we walked down the streets of Cytos away from the DEZ.

  Emery had returned two days after Vic’s graduation to let us know she would contact us when Vic was released, but the look in her eyes told me something was wrong. She wasn’t herself, not as snappy as I was used to.

  Since then, she hadn’t returned.

  “Maybe they’re just being cautious, avoiding being caught or something?” Theo offered, as he stepped up beside me.

  It was still warm outside, even with the sun down. Summer would come to an end soon, but until then the heat was around to stay. The DEZ was so temperature controlled I often forgot what the sun felt like on my skin, especially when I only snuck out at night. It’d taken some time to sneak out without Vic’s help, but I was getting desperate for answers, so we risked using the vent in the mechanical room and hoped Em still had control of the CameraBots.

  The smell of fresh mown grass and summer flowers made the warm temperature a lot more bearable.

  I had chosen lighter clothes tonight, opting for a thin pair of charcoal leggings and a forest green tank top. There was no use covering what I was anymore. In a few weeks, I’d be out here on my own. I couldn’t hide forever. The fourteen dark strikes on my arm were sharp against my pale skin, but I didn’t hide them. I did my best to ignore the stares from nearly everyone we passed.

  Theo wore a navy T-shirt that clung tight to his body, and his golden skin nearly shimmered in the moonlight. I couldn’t keep my mind from drifting, even now.

  He laced his fingers through mine and pulled me closer. Despite the panic and worry, I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face. It had been there every night as I curled up beside him in the quad we now shared. He hadn’t pushed, and he hadn’t asked what I knew he wondered. What was this? What were we? In the end, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that for once in my life, I saw a future outside of the cement prison walls. A life with Vic and Theo. That was what had me smiling, even if I knew it wasn’t bound to last.

  “Have you picked out a place yet? For our first date, I mean.” Theo nudged me as we neared the downtown streets of Cytos. It was already lit up with neon lights, and the streets were slowly getting more and more crowded, but it felt like no one else existed but him.

  I glanced up at him, and his smile widened. “I hardly know any place outside of the Underground, and they definitely don’t have good food there.” I smirked.

  “Maybe Jayla will have a good suggestion. Or Emery?” Theo said.

  I shrugged. “When I see them tonight, my first question won’t be where to eat. It will be why the hell they haven’t sent us any word on Vic.”

  As soon as I said it, the worry came back. Why hadn’t they contacted us? Maybe they didn’t care to help us anymore. Maybe all they had wanted was information, and now Vic was lost somewhere with no one to help her.

  Em wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t.

  “She’s fine. I’m sure of it.” Theo squeezed my hand, pulling me towards the apartment complex Jayla lived in.

  We took the stairs instead of the elevators. It was habit still to shy away from public locations and too many eyes. By the time we reached the top, my legs were shaking and my lungs burned.

  I knocked on the door twice before leaning against the wall to catch my breath.

  Silence.

  I tried again, this time calling out for them and letting whoever was inside know it was me.

  More silence.

  Theo tried the door across the hall where Caspian lived. No one answered.

  I shook my head. “Something’s wrong.”

  Even Theo couldn’t find an excuse. There was no reason for them not to contact us, and the fact no one was home didn’t sit well with either of us. “We’ll find them,” Theo said with more bravado than his eyes read.

  “How? Where?”

  Theo dropped his arms to his side with a shrug, then ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head. He didn’t know where we could find them any more than I did.

  I slammed my shoulder against the door; maybe I could break in and find out what was going on. The door didn’t budge, and my shoulder ached from the impact.

  Theo paced in front of me a few steps before he stopped. “Ava.”

  I scrunched my brow.

  “We go to Ava. Maybe she knows where everyone is. Or how to find them.”

  I nodded, rushing back to the stairs, taking them two at a time down. We were running out of time.

  Ava’s apartment complex wasn’t too far from the downtown core and Jayla’s place. With our speed, we made quick time getting there. The front foyer of her building was dark and empty when we stepped in.

  I should have noticed something was wrong right there.

  We went up the few flights of stairs silently, not passing anyone. The building was silent. Ava’s floor was empty just like the others, and as we reached her door, I noted it was open a crack.

  I glanced to Theo. He took up the position in front of me, as I was still healing from the beating Camilla gave me. Theo pushed the door wider and glanced in. Behind him, I could see the room was pitch black and looked empty, like the rest of the building.

  A shiver crawled up my spine.

  Theo took a step inside and I followed.

  As soon as I stepped past the threshold, it hit me. The distinct smell of blood. Sweat formed at the nape of my neck, and I found myself crouching lower as we stalked farther into the room.

  The windows covering the wall ahead of me looked out to downtown Cytos where lights were flashing and the weekend was beginning. A sign changed from deep purple to bright white, and the entire room lit up.

  That’s when I saw her. Ava. She was lying awkwardly across her small bed pressed against the wall.

  I ran to her. “What happened?” I reached for her hand; it was coated in blood.

  Her hand squeezed around mine and her mouth moved. There was so much blood.

  “Quick, get a towel or something. We need to stop the bleeding.”

  Theo ran to the small kitchen area and found a towel. He tossed it to me, but it hardly helped. Blood coated her white sheets and soaked into her long, ash-blonde hair.

  I pressed the towel against the deep wound at her stomach. She flinched at the pressure.

  “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get you to a MediBot,” I said, but she shook her head. “Ava, we need to get you help. Who did this? What happened?”

  Ava’s hand reached for my face, and the cold blood covering it stained my cheek as she pulled me closer to her.

  “Go,” she breathed.

  “We aren’t leaving you, Ava. We’ll get you help,” I argued.

  Theo had found another towel and was kneeling beside me. More wounds covered her body. Cuts on her arms and face. This hadn’t been a random attack; this had been torture. The systematic cuts meant to hurt, but not kill, told me this. The deep wound I was treating told me whoever had done this had gotten an answer.

  “You’re…in…danger,” Ava struggled to speak.

  “Why? From whom?” I asked.

  “Leave…me.” Ava tried to push my hand away but I didn’t move.

  “Can you carry her?” I turned to Theo. I wasn’t about to leave her here. Even if she said I was in danger, that didn’t change anything.

  Theo nodded and moved to pick up Ava, but she feebly pushed him away.