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ecosystem. All eyes are on us as we walk through the grass. Jax leads us straight across the yard to a chain-linked fence.
    A cell.
    "Both of you, in here." He unlatches the gate and opens it wide for us. "Don't think about doing anything stupid … remember what I told you last night? Everyone here is armed and ready for battle. If you think your people are coming to get you, you're wrong. It would have been impossible to make it here last night without help and we're going to find whoever helped you. You'll regret it when we do."
    I smile despite my best intentions not to. This group doesn't believe two girls could make it all the way here from The Light on their own. But we did. They think we're decoys to infiltrate their camp and distract them. But they're wrong. No one crossed the Sound with us.
    Sure, we had help, but the help we had is nothing like they imagine. They won't find the light from Lukas that helped keep us warm, or the light within me that helped lead us along in the dark.
    "It's not funny. You girls don't know what you’re up against. I'm just sorry The Light used you like this as their pawns."
    My jaw clenches at the use of the word pawn .
    "I'm no one's pawn." I nearly spit at Jax.
    "Easy, there. I'm not here to fight with you; I'm just doing my job. And my job is to keep you detained. Got it?"
    I don't give him the satisfaction of an answer. Instead, I pull Timid with me as I walk inside the cell. At least it's a chain-link fence so we can still see everything going on around us. Jax shuts the gate behind us and clicks a padlock into place.
    He walks away, towards the fire pit. I hope he plans on bringing us some food. He begins talking with a group of people, all glaring at us. As if we're their enemies. But we're not the bad guys, we're two exhausted girls, besides what could we do? Looking at Timid, I know the half a loaf of bread she had last night wasn't enough to regain her strength. Especially when she's on sensory overload.
    It's a full-fledged fall morning in early-October. A gust of wind sweeps through the camp, and goose bumps rise on the surface of my skin. Timid and I are still in our gowns and aren't used to being outside like this.
    The Refuge, and the compound I grew up in, kept us far from the seasons changing weather. It was always a moderate temperature in the compound. And The Light was always warm, thanks to Lukas. Standing out here in the wide-open air, I rub my hands for heat. It's still early in the morning, the sun hasn't made its way very high in the sky yet, and I wonder if when it does I'll even see it. Grey clouds hang dangerously low, threatening rain. I've never been outside in rain before, but I know enough to know it will only cause problems. The people around us, sitting on benches, laughing as they lop food up from silver platters, are all wearing long pants and coats. Warm. I would give anything to at least have a pair of socks on my feet.
    Jax grabs two tin plates and ladles brown mush onto each of them from the pot hanging over the fire pit. He pulls a knife out of his waist and slices off two hunks of meat from the animal roasting over the dull embers. He carries them over to us and sets them on the ground as he uses a key to unlock the gate.
    "Here you go." He looks us over again, and pauses on Timid. "You okay? You don't look so good. I can't have anyone falling over dead on my watch." He isn't particularly gentle with what he says, and Timid retreats farther away from him, nearly curling into herself. I look at her though, and see her lips are blue, and the wind causes her long blond hair to circle around her. She looks like a ghost, her skin nearly translucent. I've never noticed it before so distinctly, because everyone on the Refuge has pale skin from never being exposed to the elements. But I can see now how being outside is genuinely shocking her system.
    "Once she eats she'll be better," I snap, not wanting to say anymore. If they're going to put us on