“She needs you,” I repeated, keeping my eyes locked on hers. I couldn’t breathe, the reality of every word cutting me like a knife. “I need you.”

  Em swallowed, her brow furrowed as she stared at her sister.

  “Fall back,” one of the guards screamed. “We have to fall back.”

  Another crash sounded nearly as loud as an explosion, the rock around us breaking and cracking. A line skittered across the roof, cracking the stone and opening up a gap threatening to split the entire mountain in half.

  “Em!” I screamed, ready to pull her back, but I didn’t get a chance.

  Her sister lunged forward, and I was sure it was to attack, but she pushed Em out of the way just as the roof above us collapsed. Em slid back, running into my legs as a mound of stone from the roof above piled right where she had been standing. A hole above us revealed an empty hallway and more damage to everything around us.

  Em jumped to her feet, taking a step towards the rocks. As the dust settled, I noticed the guards who had been before us were already gone, and all that was left was Em’s sister, a gash across her forehead, but she stood. She jutted her chin at Em, an order for her to leave, before she turned and sprinted away from us.

  CASPIAN

  I placed a hand on Em’s back, and she flinched as if she’d forgotten I was there. My lungs burned, and I wanted to explain, wanted to tell her I had planned to get her out, but I couldn’t form the words. Guilt swam through me, threatening to force my legs to move back to find her, but I knew I’d never make it. The mountain was falling, and we had to get everyone out.

  “Come on,” I said gently, and she finally tore her gaze away from where her sister had disappeared.

  “Boy, it’s good to see you guys,” Sienna said, still holding Theo up.

  Vic was watching me, her eyes glassy with tears. “You came back,” Vic said before she flung herself at me and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.

  “I told you I would,” I said, pulling her in closer.

  She leaned back, a huge smile like I’d never seen spread across her face. “Where’s Jayla?” she asked.

  “She’s safe,” I said, feeling the twinge of guilt at the lie and my heart clenched. I hoped it was true, hoped what Simon had said was truth and that Grayson would keep her alive—even if it was so she could use her. We just needed enough time to get out of here, and then we’d find a way to get Jayla. We had to. “We’ve got to get you guys out of here. There isn’t much more time.”

  Vic nodded, moving to let Em lead the way. Em was quiet as she passed, and I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what. She wouldn’t look at me.

  “Did you see Gunner? Is he okay?” Vic asked.

  I tried to give a reassuring nod. “He’s okay,” I said. “He’s with Jayla.”

  I felt Em’s attention on me, listening, but she didn’t turn around as she led the way down the stairwell to the basement level. It was packed with kids who instantly flinched when they saw us. “It’s okay, we’re on your side. We’re going to get you out of here,” I said.

  I slid through the crowd of terrified kids to a door at the end of the hallway they had lined up in front of. Just as Em had programmed it, my ID card opened the door. It was another large room, empty except for a few discarded chairs and tables, but if the blueprints were correct, then the north wall would be an exterior wall and our way out.

  “You guys wait here,” I ordered, shooing the kids back away from the door as Em began positioning the explosives she’d stolen along the wall.

  When they were all set, she moved back beside me. “This will just take out the wall right? Not the entire mountain?” I asked.

  Em shrugged. “Presumably.” Before I had a chance to object, she lit the fuse and we hid behind the door. The blast pushed us both back into the crowd of kids, stumbling over a few before the shaking stopped. It was quiet as we waited to see if the entire thing would come down. Then we opened the door back up to find the wall gone and an open view to the mountain range below. Cold air swept in.

  A shuttle lowered towards the side of the mountain, its large metal structure hovering near the opening we’d made, its side door slid open. “Did someone request a ride out of here?” Gustov bellowed over the roar of the engine.

  “Never thought I’d say I was happy to see you,” Em said, directing the kids into the waiting shuttle. A metal plank was placed between the shuttle and the opening, allowing the kids to get on safely, filing to the back.

  “I eventually grow on everyone.” Gustov winked.

  “How many did you manage?” I asked, helping kids into the shuttle.

  “About twenty or so from Cytos.” Em and I exchanged a look; we both knew that wasn’t nearly enough. “However, Kuros seems to have sent their entire fleet.” Gustov nodded just beyond the opening, to the row of shuttles hovering in the distance over the mountain range, each one red and gold on the outside. There had to be more than a hundred of them.

  Em smiled. “Guess your friend was convincing.”

  “I never had a doubt in Leanna. She always gets what she wants.” Em cocked a brow at me. “Well, almost always.”

  The shuttles rotated, carrying as many kids as they could in each until the last kid was through, and we ensured they were all on a shuttle, including Vic, Theo, and Sienna. Em set to arm the last of the bombs we’d carefully placed throughout the prison, the ones Theo had managed to hide within the upper building.

  “Where’s Jayla?” Em asked, turning to me.

  I didn’t look at her. Instead, I was looking towards the door as if she would walk through any second. But I knew she wouldn’t. I’d done a good job of pushing down the fear and panic while we got the kids out safely, but now… my throat was closing up.

  “Caspian, where is she?” Em pulled my arm, forcing me to look at her. “You said we could get her back?”

  I shook my head. “We can, just not now.”

  “What do you mean not now?” Fear flashed through Em’s eyes.

  “She’ll be safe. Simon made sure of it,” I said.

  “How?” Em demanded.

  “I don’t know, but he’s giving us time to figure this out, to find a way to get her back,” I said. “And we will get her back.”

  “No.” Em shook her head. “I’m not leaving without her.” She moved towards the door, but I caught her wrist.

  “It’s too late, Em,” I said softly. “She was with Grayson—they need her. This mountain is coming down, and they are likely already on the train they had waiting for them. We would never make it to her in time.” Every word was like a cut across my skin. I wanted to believe them, wanted Em to believe them, but there was no way to know. Grayson would save herself, that much was certain, and I had to trust that Simon would make sure Jayla was with them—but we still had to get her back somehow, and that realization had my heart thudding in my chest.

  “How could you let this happen?” Em screamed, suddenly so furious she shoved me in the chest, and I stumbled back a step. “You were supposed to protect her. You were supposed to keep her safe.”

  “I know.”

  She pounded her fists against my shoulders, and I took each blow as a penance I deserved. “I can’t leave without her.”

  I caught her hands this time and she sank, her body trembling like I’d never seen before. “We’ll get her back, I promise,” I said. Em looked up, tears rimming the edge of her eyes. “I promise, Em.”

  “We’ve got to go,” Logan said from the last shuttle waiting to take us to Kuros.

  I led Em towards him, pulling her under my arm and letting her cling to my side. She used a stolen tablet to set off the last of the bombs before we stepped into the shuttle, and it soared off just as the entire mountain exploded. Snow and rock and flames flew into the sky.

  I’d never seen Em cry before, not like this. She sobbed, her shoulders shaking, and I felt my throat tightening, felt tears fill my own eyes. I hated this, hated that I hadn’t protected Jayla. She needed me, and now Jayla was in the arms of our enemy. My head dropped. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  In the distance, I saw the magnetic train gliding over the invisible track, heading back towards Cytos. I wanted to follow them, to get Jayla back right then and there, but I knew I couldn’t risk it. There was no way to know if the train was armed or what they’d do if we got too close. We had kids on this shuttle, and by the time we dropped them off and returned, the train would be long gone, but we knew where they were going. I knew where they’d take Jayla.

  I will find you, and I’ll bring you home, I silently promised, a tear sliding down my cheek, as our shuttle sped off in the opposite direction.

  GUNNER

  The mountain was crumbling around us, but my feet wouldn’t move and I felt numb. The guard closest to me had to drag me nearly the entire way to the waiting train. I could hardly even think. Cold mountain air hit my exposed skin, but I could still feel the heat from the flames on me. My father had sacrificed himself for me.

  More people ran from the entrance of Black Prison, there was another blast, and a large hole in the side of the mountain exposed the inside of the building where tons of people were waiting. Vic would be there, I was certain of it, and that alone put a smile on my face.

  I finally blinked, and it was only then I noticed the shuttles hovering a safe distance away. I recognized the silver ones from Cytos. They had black arrows pointing up on the sides of the facades. The other shuttles, which were double the amount of the ones from Cytos, were red and black. Though I’d never seen them, I knew it was the colors of Kuros.

  “You’re with me.” A hand gripped onto my arm roughly, yanking me into the train. I glanced up to find the half-singed face of Governor Grayson.

  She caught my stare. “Courtesy of my idiot brother.”

  I smiled as she shoved me into the front compartment of the train. “It suits you,” I said.

  Grayson glared. “Sit,” she said, pointing to the metal bench lining the inside of the compartment.

  The windows were still covered in black, so we couldn’t see outside, but I could hear the mountain groaning around us and knew if I were to look outside, I would find rocks cracking and crumbling around the prison. I just hoped they got those kids out.

  More guards filled up the compartments. Someone was shoved into the back area of the compartment I sat in. Her dark hair fell over her face as she stumbled to her knees, but Jayla just pushed herself back against the metal wall and leaned her head back.

  Despite being beat to all hell and hardly looking as if she could stand, they chained her wrists to a railing by her head. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that even in her current state, Jayla was dangerous.

  One of the guards stepped back out of the train and pulled out a bomb from his hip, looking as if he might try launching it at the nearest shuttle when Grayson yelled, “Stand down.”

  The guard looked back, dropping his arms quickly.

  “If you take any one of those shuttles down, it will cost you your life,” Grayson said, sneering. “We need every one of those kids alive.”

  The guard quickly stepped back into the train, putting the bomb away on his hip. I noted how Jayla, despite keeping her eyes closed and leaning her head back, was listening to the exchange. Her mouth was a thin, sharp line, and I knew she was wondering what I was. Why would Grayson let the genetic kids get away?

  “Ma’am, the mountain’s coming down,” a nervous looking guard said.

  “We’ll leave when everyone is here,” Grayson said, still staring out the open train doors.

  There were a group of guards walking towards us, with the blonde-haired, black-eyed girl leading the way. She had scratch marks down her cheek and a gash on her forehead she didn’t seem to even notice. She stepped in beside the Governor and pointed to an empty spot near the front where I sat. The guards were carrying someone, and it wasn’t until they were laying him down I realized who it was: Simon.

  More than half of his body was charred black. The side of his face was burned so badly you could see the bone jutting out of the skin at his cheek. Where there was still flesh, it was red with blood, and he was missing his entire right hand.

  Dr. Allard knelt down beside him.

  “If he dies, so do you,” Grayson hissed at Allard, her eyes watching Simon.

  I didn’t think it was possible for him to be alive, but his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. At the back of the compartment, Jayla didn’t hide her surprise as she looked at Simon with what I assumed was concern. Despite the fact he had betrayed her and gotten her beaten within an inch of her life, she seemed to care about him. It seemed my father had been right when he said Jayla would understand why he did it, even if I didn’t. There was a small part of me glad to see Simon was still alive—but I didn’t trust that part of me. It was stupid and childish, wishing for something that would never happen… happiness. I just wanted to know him, understand why he did what he did, but was I prepared for the truth?

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” Allard said.

  “Fix him,” Grayson demanded before taking a seat a few feet away.

  The black-eyed girl stood to her right. Her stance was ridged and strict, and her gaze shifted between watching Allard work on Simon, and Jayla seated at the back.

  The train shuttered and the doors slammed shut moments before it took off. The subtle vibration rumbled under my feet, and we moved so suddenly I nearly fell over. Another loud boom and the train shook with the blast for a moment before it steadied and sped up.

  I took a long breath, and my body seemed to settle. As it did, I was suddenly aware of how cold my foot was. When I looked down, I realized I only had one shoe on. One pant leg looked as if it’d been singed off, and I was covered in black soot and blood. The wounds were mostly superficial, scrapes and scratches I couldn’t even feel at this moment, nothing compared to what covered Simon.

  Allard was using a pair of shears to remove the clothing practically burned to Simon’s body. His hands didn’t tremble, and his eyes were focused. Simon’s life wasn’t the only one in his hands; it was his life, too. Grayson didn’t take her eyes off Allard as he worked.

  After a few moments, Allard glanced back to me where I sat a few feet away.

  “Get over here, kid. I need your help.”

  I didn’t think my legs would work, but I managed the two steps it took to get beside him before I knelt.

  “Hold this,” Allard ordered, handing me a stack of gauze before moving to pull off more burnt-on clothing. Each time he removed a piece, taking burnt skin with it, he replaced it with a piece of the gauze to cover the open wounds.

  We sat there for hours, so long my feet had gone completely numb and my body ached from being hunched over, but I didn’t complain. Allard removed what he could before spraying something over the open wounds causing Simon to scream out in pain. I didn’t know if he was even conscious or if the pain was so bad it woke him up just for that moment. Allard pulled out a syringe from his bag and jabbed it into the small part of Simon’s arm that was still flesh-colored. Then he poured a vial of something down his throat, some of the contents spilled out of the open wound in his cheek, but his body seemed to settle with whatever it was.

  Grayson had sat watching the entire time until a guard came and informed her we were an hour away from Cytos. Then she moved to the back with the black-eyed girl following.

  I watched until they were gone before I whispered to Allard, “Will he live?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Allard said. His brows were furrowed with concentration.

  “Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked, hating the hopefulness in my voice, because I knew Simon had done what he did for a reason.

  Bloodied gauze covered Simon’s body, but he’d finally stopped trembling. His breaths were steady now, and the open wounds seeping blood onto the train’s metal floor had finally stopped.

  “You tell me, kid.” Allard glanced up, and it was that small look that told me he knew why Simon had done it.

  Simon knew how to use the artifact Grayson needed for this final phase, and he’d been willing to die to protect that secret, only now he was still alive. He’d said before, Grayson could get information from him even if he didn’t tell her. Did that mean she could read his mind? That wasn’t possible. Was it?

  “He didn’t intend to live,” I said quietly. The few guards around us were resting, their eyes closed, but still I kept my voice low. “You could just—” I couldn’t even finish my words because they felt vile even now. Not only would Simon’s death mean Allard’s as well, I didn’t think I could stand to lose him again. It was selfish, and I knew it, but I wanted to know more—I wanted to know him.

  “She’d know,” Allard simply replied.

  I sighed and Allard glanced over at me, his gaze much softer than I’d ever seen before. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re nearly finished at this point,” Allard said, and the look in his eyes told me he wasn’t referring to fixing Simon. “All we can do is hope we’ve done enough and put our faith in the right people.”

  I glanced to the back of the room where Jayla had been watching us the entire time. She may have looked defeated on the outside, but I could see the way her hands balled into fists. The look in her eyes told me this was far from over, and there was no way she would be going down without a fight.

  She caught my gaze. The corner of her mouth slid into a devilish grin, and she gave me a slight nod.

  No, we weren’t done. We were only just beginning.

  SIENNA

  The trip to Kuros wasn’t long, but it felt like an eternity. There were so many people in each shuttle, and I wasn’t even sure whose we were on. Beside me, Theo was still pale. One of the guards inside the shuttle had bandaged up his leg, but he’d need a healer as soon as we arrived. He glanced around as if he might see someone he recognized from his other life, and there was a small twinge of jealousy at the realization he was going back to his home… his family.