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come for me?”
    “Yes. We all have. Tamra too. I got caught so Cassian can find us once they get inside.” I swallow. “We’ve bonded. He’ll know right away where I am. We’re going to break you out.” I don’t mention Will. Considering Miram wouldn’t escape with me the last time because Will was there with me, I think it’s best to leave off mentioning him for now.
    All the draki around me are quiet and I know Miram isn’t the only one listening. They’re absorbing my words just as much as she is. I would be doing the same thing—my thoughts would be racing as to whether I could be free as well.
    “All of you,” I call out. “We’re all escaping this place.”
    “Oh, thank you,” Lia cries excitedly.
    Roc just mutters, “We’ll see,” but I can hear a faint thread of hope in his voice.
    “What do I need to do to help?” Miram asks.
    My shoulders sag, relieved at her words—that she’s on board. “Be ready. Follow my lead no matter what.” Even when you see Will . “It can’t be like last time,” I warn. “No panicking …”
    “I’ll be ready.” There’s a whisper of anger in her voice and I figure this is okay. Even a good thing. A little anger is healthy. Maybe it will give her courage when the time to act arrives.
    I slide down, the wall at my back.
    And then that draki starts up again with her maddening chants. Apparently my promise for escape didn’t register with her. The words run together so quickly now that I can’t even make them out. I press both hands over my ears to try and block out her shrill voice. Impossible.
    Roc bellows at her and I jump. She doesn’t let up though. If anything she grows louder. Another sound joins in the cacophony. The sound of someone beating the walls. It almost sounds like a body crashing against a cell. The force sends a vibration through the floor that travels up my legs.
    I bury my face in my hands, convinced I’ve just plunged into an asylum. Just one day. Just one day .
    Time can’t move fast enough.



4
    M y gaze grows blurry as I stare too long out the Plexiglas. I blink my aching eyes and look away, trying to focus my thoughts again. Hard. Impossible. My adrenaline gone, I feel almost ill, drained and sickly lethargic. A dull ache throbs at the back of my head, gnawing at me like some kind of beast working on a bone. I rub a hand at the base of my skull. I can’t find myself anywhere amid the whirling buzz of my thoughts. All my confidence eludes me. Yes. We have a plan, but what if it doesn’t work? What if Will, Cassian, and Tamra try to rescue us and fail? What if I’m stuck here? Locked in a cell forever? Panic claws its way up my throat.
    Cassian . My mind whispers his name, searching for him, trying to reach him. Can he feel me? Hear me?
    Cassian, I don’t know how much longer I can stand this . I think the words, form them in my head like I’m talking to him, like he’s there, inside me.
    For the first time I need the bond between us to work. He’s my only connection to the outside. To life away from here. To Will .
    A lab coat strolls past and backs up, stopping in front of my cell with a suddenness that makes me recoil.
    He holds a clipboard in one hand and a sandwich in the other, an abundance of lettuce sticking out from all sides of the bread. He watches me with a curious fascination—as though I might suddenly do something of interest. Or I already am …
    He taps on the Plexiglas with one finger, smudging the surface with a streak of mustard.
    “Hi, there.” He coos at me like I’m a pet to tame. “Aren’t you a pretty girl?”
    I angle my head. My chest expands, swells with heat. Steam puffs from my nose as I watch him. He chuckles.
    Another enkros steps up beside him. “She’s something. Think we’ll get to cut this one open? Be interesting to see how the lungs and airways function.”
    “I imagine it will come to that eventually.” He takes a bite from his sandwich and talks with his mouth full.