I wince.
“You save what you can save,” Sophie says. “I’ll see you omegas on the outside.”
Mia huffs, and I find her gaze isn’t on Sophie but on Legion.
“How’s he doing?” she asks.
“He’s okay.”
“Is he? Or is he just pretending again?”
She abruptly shakes her head and smiles. “I should get out of here, huh, stop distracting you. When will you come?”
“Near the end,” I say.
She hugs me again. “Look after yourself, please.” She glances at Legion one more time, then wades out into the water and, without a backward glance, is snatched away.
More and more faces that I recognise pass through, most looking shell-shocked. Injured people outnumber the boats, so Jarek, Mordecai,and Legion went and found other things that float, pairing them with strong swimmers.
Bear comes down the next day and glances around. “Is that everyone?”
“It’s most of everyone. There are a lot hiding,” Legion says. “Nothing we can do about them. I’ve had our scouts leave up signs, but we’ll see whether or not they know what to look for.”
I’m loath to leave knowing that we’ll be leaving helpless people behind, but the chances of discovery are getting higher and higher.
“They found us!” a kid shouts, racing down the steps three at a time. He looks to be about seventeen and still tall and gangly with youth. His hair is brown and cut short to the scalp. He gets to the water and stops, looking at Bear, his whole wiry body shaking.
The Resistance leader inflates his chest. “Legion, let’s go.”
I stare at him, knowing exactly what he’s going to say next.
“You need to shut the hidden door,” Bear says. No, commands.
I glare at him.
“If you don’t, they will follow and find them.”
My ire raises.
“I could stay,” Legion says.
“No, I need you. They can do it. It’s Kaida Keres. She’s escaped the Path’s clutches twice now. She’s the best fit to survive.”
I sigh and turn and make my way up the stairs. I hear a splash, and when I look back, the underground river is empty, and there’s no one left.
Mordecai, Jarek, and Cadel wait for me at the top of the stairs, somehow already guessing what is happening.
“What are we doing?” Jarek asks as we watch the doors close, sealing it off like it was never here.
“Now, we try not to die,” I growl.
Chapter 43
The heat
The four days since we saw most of the omegas and alphas escape the city have not been fun. We’re tired and exhausted; the Path are dogging our steps, finding us by their sheer numbers. We’ve travelled around the city in a huge circle, being driven from one hiding spot to another.
They’ve figured it out, though, because today it’s been strangely silent. I look down at the city from the massive high-rise we’re hiding in.
