The hologram vid jerked shakily, as if the camera owner had experienced the same reaction as me. “Did you see that?” he barked. “Alpha One! Respond, please!”

The commander’s voice echoed through the comms: “All units! All units! Report to—” Her voice cut off in a strangled scream.

“Go!” someone shouted. The camera lurched forward, black-suited security guards in front of it, the feed a jumble of feet and arms and guns until it made me sick to watch, but I didn’t dare look away.

Someone else screamed, a high, shrill wail that went on and on. My nails dug into the flesh of my palms. It was a human sound, not the aliens’ cry. We hadn’t heard the aliens yet. This might be anything. A rebellion. A gang war. Anything.

A jumble of shouting filled the room, gaining in volume, in panic, in desperation. The camera swiveled left, then right, pitching like the nose of a shuttle on reentry. A blur of motion passed in front of us, and Imani shrieked, jumping and pressing her hand to her chest.

“What was that?” screamed the man. “What the bloody hell was that?”

“Retreat!” someone shouted. “Everyone! Get out of here!”

“What was it? What was it? Did you see it? What was it?”

A black-visored face filled our vision a second before its arm blocked the camera. “Get a grip!” its owner shouted. “And go! Move! Go, goddamn it!”

The hologram shimmered into place and tottered as the guards flew down the hall at a dead run, back the way they’d come. Suddenly a claw shot into our realm of vision.

This time, no one screamed.

The reality of the situation settled with the weight of a death sentence.

I sank to the floor, my knees giving way even as Cage fumbled to catch me, missing because his eyes remained glued to the hologram.

We’d seen those claws before. Cutting into our own flesh. We’d pulled one from Mia’s side.

“You see?” Rune said, her voice nearly a sob. “They’re here.”

Now Cage reached for her, but Alexei arrived first, laying steadying hands on her arms. Mia appeared beside him, for once stunned into silence, her face as pale and drawn as mine.

The angle of the hologram changed as the guard stared at the claw protruding at least six inches from his chest. I reeled. “That’s too long,” I whispered. “Their claws weren’t so long.” I remembered every second on Sanctuary, every vivid, gory detail. I’d held one of their claws in my hand after it snapped off inside Mia’s abdomen.

“Maybe they’re mutating too,” said Reed grimly.

“Maybe.” Cage raked his hands through his hair. “Or maybe they’re different. A different species, or even . . . I don’t know. I need to think about it.”

“You’re saying these things might be even worse than the ones on Sanctuary?” Jasper’s voice held an edge of hysteria. Something cracked, making us all jump. Jasper stared blankly at the arm of his chair, which he’d just snapped off in his hand.