So . . . what next? The most sensible thing was to head upstairs. That was where I’d last seen Cage. I drew my hood over my face, enclosing myself in safety and anonymity. I’d caused some commotion, but with my hood I was nothing but another grubby teenager on a crowded criminal hideout. The sheer indifference of the place sheltered me.

“Kenzie!”

I winced at the shout from below. So much for anonymity.

Mia grabbed my arm and shoved me forward. “Don’t look!” she bellowed. “Just run!”

Alexei seized my other arm, and they tore up the stairs, dragging me between them. “What’s going on?” I cried.

At that moment, a stun gun blast erupted behind me, narrowly missing us. “Does that answer your question?” Mia shouted.

“No!”

We shot into the marketplace, diving into the crowd. I fought a surge of panic. Who the hell was chasing us now?

The signal is gone, but the draw remains. The pull. The strength is weakened but present. There is connection. They are growing. They are expanding. They are increasing.

Prepare.

Draw.

Contain.

TWENTY-TWO

MIA AND ALEXEI DRAGGED ME into the upper market. I caught a glimpse of familiar leather jackets in the distance and pulled my hood farther over my face. “Where’s Cage?” Mia demanded.

“The person he needed to talk to wouldn’t see me. Who’s chasing you?”

“Bounty hunters,” said Alexei grimly. “Apparently Earth knows we survived Sanctuary.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, and told them as briefly as possible what had happened to me. “Didn’t Jasper warn you?”

“We got separated.”

The three of us ducked behind a stall selling some sort of broth, and my stomach rumbled again in response. The bounty hunters would no doubt follow us into the marketplace, but they’d have a hard time locating us. “Why’d Liam take your comm device?” Mia asked abruptly.

“He, um . . .” I cleared my throat in embarrassment. “He didn’t say.”

“And you just let him walk away?” An edge of disbelief laced her anger.

I ground my teeth and forced my voice calm. “No, I walked away, because I wanted to warn all of you before some team of bounty hunters caught up to us.” And because Liam had manipulated me, using my fear of the aliens to stop me from asking too many questions. I didn’t add that part.

“I don’t suppose you had the common sense to demand to see the contract? Or ask who it’s for? Is it all of us? Do they know who lived? Is it a blanket call for the survivors of Sanctuary?” My face must have answered her question, because Mia scowled in disgust. She might like me better now, but a few weeks of living in close quarters hadn’t increased her patience any. “All right. Lex? We’re going to have to nab one of the bounty hunters and get a look at that contract.”

He grinned. “That, I can do.”