Redmon entered from the bedroom, carrying a pack stuffed with essentials. His expression was grim as he set it beside the two others by the door.
"How much longer?" he asked, his voice low and urgent.
I glanced at the window where the first hint of dawn painted the sky in muted lavender. "Ten minutes for this batch. Then we're ready."
The warning from Marok's grandson still echoed in my mind. Dawn tomorrow. Magnus Terra forces with both human and tribal authority. Quarantine for me. Sedition charges forRedmon. The knowledge that others like us were being used to create a special breed of children who could survive in radiation zones.
Sleep had been impossible. Instead, we'd spent the night preparing by packing supplies, creating defensive concoctions, mapping our escape route. We planned to leave before midnight, but Redmon insisted on waiting for one last tribal contact who might provide documents to help us pass checkpoints.
The contact never arrived.
"We should have left hours ago," I muttered, scraping the finished powder into a final pouch.
"We leave at first light," Redmon said firmly. "The northern trail is too dangerous in full darkness, even for me."
I tied off the last pouch and added it to my belt. "There. That's everything I can make with what we have."
Selene stood, her young face set with determination that made my heart ache. "What about me? I should come with you."
"No." Redmon and I spoke in unison.
I moved to my sister, taking her hands in mine. "You'll be safer here. If we both disappear, they'll hunt you down immediately. This way, you can claim ignorance."
"They won't believe me," she protested.
"They don't need to," Redmon interjected. "They just need to have no proof you helped us. Marok's people will come for you in three days if we don't return. They'll get you to safety."
I pulled her into a fierce hug, breathing in her familiar scent. "We'll find you. I promise."
A sharp knock at the door froze us all in place.
Redmon moved instantly to the window, peering carefully through a gap in the curtains. His body tensed, fur bristling along his massive shoulders.
"Magnus Terra," he growled. "Four officials. Armed guards."
My stomach dropped. "They're early."
"Or someone warned them," Selene whispered.
Another knock, more insistent this time. "Commander Razak? Kalyndi? This is Administrator Verek. Open the door for a routine follow-up."
Redmon moved silently to us, his voice barely audible. "Greenhouse exit. Now."
I nodded, grabbing my pack and slinging it over my shoulder. For weeks, I'd been cultivating dense vines along the back wall of the greenhouse, creating a living curtain that concealed the small door I'd built into the glass panels.
"Commander?" Verek called again. "We know you're inside. Please open the door."
Selene squeezed my hand once before I slipped into the greenhouse, Redmon close behind me. Through the glass walls, I could see shadowy figures moving around the cottage perimeter.
"They're surrounding us," I whispered, ducking behind a tall shelf of plants.
Redmon nodded grimly. "Stay low."
We crept toward the back wall where my green escape route waited. I'd tested it twice before, a narrow opening just wide enough for me to slip through, hidden behind cascading jasmine vines. Redmon would have to break through more panels to follow, but the noise would only matter after I was safely away.
The sound of the front door splintering echoed through the cottage. They'd forced their way in.
"Hurry," Redmon urged, his massive hand gentle on my back.
