Vic leaned back to study my face. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  I shrugged. “We don’t harbor any ill will towards each other, in fact I hope he’s doing well away from Cytos. We were just… different people. I was unlike either of them, my dad and brother, they were systematic and liked routine. I leaned more towards adventure and thrived on not knowing what would happen next. I was more like my mom, I assume.”

  “Is she…”

  “I don’t know.” I turned away, fighting the pain in my chest. “She left when I was a kid. I don’t know what ever happened to her or where she is. She was a bit of a… free spirit. Didn’t like to be tied down to one person or one place.”

  We were silent for a few moments before Vic said, “I like to think I am more like my mom, too.” She smiled. “I think she would have been a kind heart with the fearlessness of a lion, even if she normally wore sheep’s clothing.”

  The Marked kids weren’t told anything about their parents; they weren’t even given last names. Most were given up at birth, by parents who made impulse decisions they regretted. We lived in a world where there were no consequences for changing your mind. No one cared if these kids grew up in a prison before they were sent into a war against something worse than any nightmare I could ever imagine. Just the thought of it made me sick.

  A few had been brought to the DEZ after their parents passed unexpectedly. Orphans with no family to take care of them.

  “Did you ever know them?” I asked.

  “No,” Vic said. “I was brought to the DEZ as a baby.”

  Like most of the kids there.

  “Sienna and I used to dream that both our parents were warriors fighting some battle in a different country. And that once they’d saved the world, they’d come back and bring us home,” Vic said, a sad smile on her face. “She was always the dreamer, always trying to make me believe we weren’t trash, not someone’s leftovers.”

  “You’re not,” I said firmly.

  “It’s okay if we are.” Vic shrugged. “I don’t care what we were, or are, to other people, because to each other we’re family, and we were each other’s first choice. That’s the truth I believe.”

  I nodded. Having a choice in your own life was something the Marked kids didn’t know much of. Everything was decided for them, right down to the place they would die. I’d only experienced a small taste of that life here in the Void; I couldn’t imagine living my entire life without the ability to do what I wanted, when I wanted.

  At the back of the room, the red circular device blinked twice before it turned green on its own, and a Linked image appeared before us.

  I jumped to my feet.

  “Well, isn’t this a surprise,” Dr. Merinda said. Her smooth hair was ruffled, and her white jacket wasn’t pressed to perfection as it usually was. “We had thought you’d both died. But lo and behold, here you are, not dead.”

  I shrugged.

  “After all the black outs due to that explosion, it took us some time to find your trackers dissolved. But then I noticed the hatch to this base had been unlocked.” She tilted her head, as if waiting for me to explain how that had happened. I was careful not to flick my attention to Dr. Allard, who stood behind her with a smirk on his face. “It seems in the brief black-out you somehow knew to get your trackers out… how convenient.”

  “We weren’t aware of any black outs, the power worked just fine in here,” I said, keeping my tone casual. “We just thought we’d take advantage of all the deaths happening and hope you didn’t question ours.”

  Dr. Merinda’s eyes flashed as she considered my words. Behind her, Dr. Allard gave a cocky grin and a little nod of his head. I ignored that, too.

  “I guess luck was on your side, as those trackers are tamper proof. Had the blackout not shut the trackers off temporarily, you both would have been dissolved immediately.” I could tell by her tone she didn’t believe a word I said, but I didn’t care. “Nevertheless, your luck is my gain.”

  “Is it now?”

  “It seems your information has checked out, and we’re willing to let you cash in on that little bargain we made,” Merinda said, crossing her arms.

  “That’s all fine and dandy, but I think we’ll just stay here,” I said.

  “And why would you do that when I’m offering freedom?”

  I scoffed. “You don’t know what the word freedom even means, and you sure as hell aren’t going to let us go anywhere.”

  Merinda’s lips pursed into a thin line. “You’re running a bit low on food, aren’t you? You’re willing to starve instead of taking my generous offer?”

  I nodded.

  Her cheeks flushed with what I assumed was anger, the first sign of emotion from her in a long while. “Here’s the thing. We’ve lost a lot of people in that damn explosion—”

  “Since when do you consider Marked kids people?” Vic interrupted, and I couldn’t keep the smug smile off my face.

  Merinda ignored her. “We need both of your help.”

  I choked on a laugh. “You need our help? Well, isn’t that rich.”

  “Yes, it is quite ironic, isn’t it?” Merinda’s smile had no warmth. “But I’d suggest you stop your smirking and start listening.”

  The tone in her voice had my grin fading.

  “We have an operative coming to you two, as you’re the closest base that isn’t overrun with Reeks. We’ll provide you with the location. You will assist them in getting back to our base, or we will take it out on the people who helped you get in this situation in the first place.” Merinda moved to her right, and the Linked camera followed her movement. Behind her, a short, dark-haired woman came into view. When she lifted her head, my heart stopped. I clenched my jaw and tried to swallow the lump now lodged in my throat. “You remember the Commander, don’t you?”

  I kept my mouth shut, feeling Vic’s questioning eyes on me, but I said nothing. I just watched Reyes from behind the doctor, blood crusted under her nose. One eye was swollen shut. She shook her head, but Merinda moved back to where she stood before, Reyes no longer in view.

  “If you don’t help me, she dies. And then another friend, another ally, until I have everyone you ever loved, ever cared about, ever spoken to… dead!” Merinda’s voice rose, and the whites of her eyes expanded. “Don’t think I’m not well aware of them all. Jayla. Emery. Your brother and his family… cute kids.”

  My voice didn’t work. My hands clenched so hard into fists my entire body shook with the effort.

  “My operative should be there tomorrow. When they arrive, I suggest you do everything you can to get them to me in one piece… because if you fail, I will destroy every one of them.”

  The image disappeared. My breathing was ragged, and I was light headed. I leaned against the wall, and Vic pressed a hand to mine.

  “It’s going to be okay, they’re going to be okay,” Vic reassured me.

  My vision was blurry and unfocused as I slid down the wall and rested my head back against the cold metal.

  “Who was that woman with the doctors?” Vic asked quietly.

  I let out a long breath before I spoke. “She was the one who saved us, Jayla and me. She made us both who we are now, and we owe our lives to her,” I said. “And she’s the only one who would know where the others are… so if she has been captured, there’s no questioning if they know where Jayla is. If they don’t already know, they will soon, one way or another.”

  Vic squeezed the hand still wrapped around mine, her fingers so small and delicate, but her grasp strong and sure.

  “We can do this. I know we can,” she said.

  I tore my gaze from our hands to find her face determined and steady. I knew what she was thinking, and I was already shaking my head. “You don’t have to—”

  “But I will, for you,” she said gently and sat back beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. “You’re my friend, you saved me. Now, I will help save you.”

  I closed my eyes, remembering the day I found her, the ghost in the forest, and I knew that image haunted her mind, too. But it was the only way we could get whoever was coming to us to The Six, and the only way we would survive, as well.

  SIENNA

  It was quiet, eerily quiet, as we neared Venzier.

  The Guardians, Theo, and Gunner had spent yesterday scouting out the area as best they could, getting an idea of just how many Reeks might still be in the city, and what else we might be facing.

  Our trackers had been removed earlier this morning, as we’d be too close to the surface near Venzier to ensure they wouldn’t go off. The tonic had worked, though a small trace of the venom seeped in, and I now had a blistering headache.

  Theo still didn’t agree with this plan. He had always been wary of trusting anyone, but we had no other choice. It had me doubting my own decision, but I could feel the desperation. Gunner had been untrustworthy at first, but he’d proven himself when he saved me and that had to mean something.

  “If we don’t find anything there, we’ll deal with it then. Right now, we have nothing to lose,” I reminded Theo.

  “We have a lot to lose.” Theo squeezed my hand, his thumb brushing against the small wound at the bottom of my wrist from where my tracker had been.

  “We’re almost there,” one of the Guardians said and nodded for us to split up. I had convinced them to let me go with them and promised to keep out of view with the Guardians Gunner had stationed along the perimeter of the large city.

  Theo kissed the top of my hand before heading towards the tunnel Gunner led them down.

  The majority of the group headed with Gunner, the path winding farther underground at a steep decline. I followed along with Petra and a few more scouts who would have bows and arrows ready to pick off anything they saw from up high.

  Four of us headed towards our lookouts. I stayed with Petra who slid into the first spot, a clear view of the broken city underground.

  Venzier appeared to be a beautiful city at one time. The buildings and streets and walls were all carved into the stone. Some had been dyed different colors, so you could distinguish each one. Stone stairs and walkways crept up and through the buildings farther than my eyes could see. Two tall pillars were at the entrance, one half crumbled while the other looked to be just barely standing, and a wide set of stairs led into the main part of the city.

  Light shone from somewhere, and as I tilted my head up, I saw the hundreds of tiny holes in the roof of the mountain, allowing sun and fresh air to come in, and making this place seem as if it wasn’t under a mountain but under the stars. Lights strung up around the city streets, though none of them had worked for some time, and most of the windows had broken jagged glass. Nothing, not even the large crater we’d blown into the side of the mountain, could remove the smell of the thousands of Reeks trapped in here for decades. More light filtered in from the large hole, and I heard the subtle sound of birds chirping in the distance. I pulled a scarf up to cover my nose.

  Yes, I could see the raw beauty of the place it once was, but now it just looked like somewhere no one should ever go. It made my heart race just looking at it, what it once was, and what it was now, a stark contrast.

  “The Carbons who created this place had been stone wielders and those with the powers to manipulate the earth. We were told it took nearly forty years to create this entire place, and that they were still building when the Reeks arrived,” Petra said to my right.

  “It’s…” I couldn’t find the word that fit both its beauty and the terror it became. “Haunting.”

  Petra nodded.

  It was silent. No sign of the Reeks we knew were still in here. Not many of them, but enough Tynan assembled his entire clan to aid in this mission, all sixteen.

  Petra pulled her bow out, long and sleek. Her thumb rested against her cheek as she scouted the area, just as I noticed the other sets of arrows poking out high from the wall where the rest of the scouts hid.

  Below, Gunner came into view. And then Tynan, Theo, and nearly a dozen other Guardians. They split off, five staying with Tynan while the others circled the perimeter below. They moved on silent feet, eyes scanning every area as they took slow steps forward towards the two pillars and the entrance of Venzier.

  I held my breath.

  It happened so fast I didn’t even think I blinked. One second it was calm and quiet, the next an arrow flew through the air, lodging itself into the back of the Reek sprinting out from behind one of the pillars.

  A second arrow hit the Reek’s neck before it took even one more stumbled step and fell on its face only a few feet from where Gunner stood.

  He turned to where Petra and I hid and gave the latter a wink and a little salute as thanks.

  I swore under my breath, my heart pounding.

  They continued moving, almost at the pillars now.

  Another arrow flew. Another Reek fell. Another one I hadn’t seen until it was dead.

  The Guardians possessed more skills than any training I’d been given at the DEZ … they were quicker and faster and stronger than any of us, even with the Carbon DNA flowing through the Genetic Kids’ blood. I now understood why the Guardians hadn’t exposed themselves to the outside world because skills like theirs would be used as a weapon in a heartbeat.

  The group was just passing the pillars when a rumble sounded. It was distant, but not like it was far away, like it was deep below. The ground around us quaked, and Petra jumped to her feet, still aiming the bow and searching for Reeks.

  She stood on steady feet while the mountain swayed and bounced, and I suddenly realized if this thing collapsed, I wouldn’t have a chance of getting out. My injured leg hardly allowed me to walk, let alone run.

  Below me, the others had gone still, not daring to move. Dust and small rocks fell from the roof, and a haze drifted through the streaks of sunlight making shadows dance all around them.

  “Get out,” I mumbled to myself, not daring to make too much noise. “Run.”

  They didn’t. And it only took a second for it to happen, for the ground beneath them to crack and splinter, for the floor to fall out from under them, and for all eight men to disappear in a cloud of dust. No, no, no.

  My breathing was ragged. The spot where they had just been was empty. A gaping hole was now where they had just been and nothing else. They were gone—disappeared.

  “Stay here,” Petra ordered before sprinting away.

  Where would I have gone, anyways? I could hardly move. And as I stared at the empty spot Theo had just been I couldn’t breathe.

  The other Guardians crept to where the group had disappeared. They whispered names, calling out to them while keeping an eye on their surroundings. Please let him be alive, he has to be okay, I silently prayed to the stars.

  The mountain had stopped shaking, and now the silence was even more crushing.

  To the left, I spotted two Reeks drawn by the noise. I didn’t get a chance to call out my warning before the Guardian closest to them took both down with four arrows.

  This can’t be happening, not now. More Reeks came out of places we hadn’t seen before, hidden within Venzier, drawn by the noise. I stared at the gaping hole in the floor. My hands clenched over the edge of the rock where I had hidden, so hard my hands ached within seconds. Where is he? Where is he!

  The Reeks moved fast, but the Guardians’ arrows were quicker. They would run out of arrows soon, and still I could do nothing to help.

  As if hearing my thoughts, one of the Guardians swore, tossing his bow aside and reached for a blade at his side. The Reek before him moved rapidly and with unsteady feet, but the Guardian slashed at its midsection. It went down, only to be replaced by two more.

  Where was Theo? The Guardians hadn’t even reached the hole they’d dropped through yet. They were so far away, and all I could hear were the Reeks.

  Their screams filled the entire broken city, echoing off the mountain like a beacon call to all the other Reeks. The Guardians couldn’t handle all of them, not at once, and more seemed to be coming from hidden areas within the city. They sprinted down the steep stairs weaving throughout the stone city unnervingly fast.

  Only eight Guardians remained, Petra and the other scouts who had been near me included, and I could do nothing but watch. My pulse was beating so fast, and I couldn’t catch my breath as my chest squeezed tight. The Guardians turned as a wave of more Reeks spiralled out of the city. Far too many for them to fight off.

  Three of them moved forward, ready to face the Reeks, both having used up all their arrows. The Reeks quickly overtook them. Screams rang out. I couldn’t watch, I couldn’t see the slaughter and know that Theo could be facing the same thing. No, I shook my head, he’s alive, he’s okay.

  I was useless, high above in the safety of this spot. And once they were done with the Guardians, there would be no doubt they’d come for me, too.

  One of the Guardians tore off, sprinting towards the entrance tunnel only to be taken out before they reached it. The last thing I saw was a hand clawing at the stone, scratching so hard a streak of blood slid down the rock from its fingernails before they were gone. One of his brothers tried to go after him, but he was tossed against the stone by a Reek, and I heard the crunch of bone before his body went limp.

  Petra and the last of the Guardians continued to fight the Reeks off. Petra was quick, slicing two long swords through the air at back-breaking speed and taking out anything in her path, but there were so many of them. Too many.

  I had to do something, but what?

  I had a rope at my feet. I tied it tight around my waist and then secured it to a firm rock at the back of the alcove I hid in. Leaning over the edge, I gulped at the drop. I didn’t know if the rope would even reach the bottom, but I couldn’t stay here and watch these Reeks slaughter everyone.

  Glancing back to the Guardians, I found only one still standing. Petra. She was now slicing and moving her way towards the hole in the ground where the others had disappeared. As if sensing I was about to do something stupid, she tore her gaze away from the Reeks for only a second and shot me a look of both terror and command. “Stay there,” she screamed before she jumped into the dark hole the others had fallen down and vanished from view.