I could help without compromising myself.
Jarek hums. “Is that why you allowed me to stay, dark one?”
Mordecai looks at Jarek and dips his head. Jarek’s face goes perfectly blank, but I catch a hint of bitterness in his scent.
My temper soars, snapping out, and the room gets thick and bitter. The alphas stiffen their shoulders; those who have not been travelling with me retreat a step, while the alphas I’ve been starting to get to know just wince.
Jarek reaches out, grabbing my hand and rubbing circles with his thumb on my palm.
“It’s okay, Keres.”
But it's not.
“I would have come just to stay with you a while longer,” he murmurs, and I fall into the fire in his eyes, the ruthless devotion he’s projecting.
The anger slips away as I stare, wondering how anyone even responds to such blatant flirting.
“So, how do you propose to do this?”
“Well, we know that the exit is in the left quadrant of the city, and we were going to search section by section. But Mordecai tells us Jarek’s mother escaped, which means we will be able to narrow it down and find it faster. It’s like we were supposed to meet,” Legion says to Jarek with a wry grin.
“You’re all taking a lot of chances and putting a lot of lives in hope and wishful thinking,” I point out.
Mordecai reaches out, but I step away from him. I’m not willing to have him touch me. He undoes all my rational thoughts.
“Yes, we are. But we believe the payoff will be worth it,” Bear says confidently.
“How did you get everyone in here?” I snap at them. “I want the details now.”
“I’ve been here for two months,” Legion says with a shrug of his shoulders.
I stare at him with wide eyes. “You planted the Resistance in here before the Path even started organising the Culling Grounds?”
“Yes, we have food, weapons, medicine, we’ve mapped as much of the city as we can and set up safe houses all over the city in case one fails.”
“How?” It’s the only word that comes into my mind.
“Bit by bit. Little by little. A few brave volunteers followed by a few more.”
Mordecai gestures around us, taking over from Legion. “We have everything we need, but we are missing one thing.”
The room goes silent, staring at me. I have this urge to run and just keep running until my legs drop.
“This is where I come in, isn’t it?” I growl.
“Yes. We know how to survive this world, but none of us are skilled at evading the Path. You survived five years, Kaida. You have been in the citadel, you know what they can do. Kaida, you have survived and stayed ahead of them every time.”
“Except this one,” I point out acidly.
“What were you doing in Beta City, anyway?” Legion asks.
“It doesn’t matter,” I mutter. “So, what do you want from me?”
“We want you to teach our omegas and alphas how to evade the Path while we run.”
I stare at them, shocked into silence.
“Please—”
