“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.

The feed fizzled and went blank.

That left us staring at one another in the recesses of a new prison, surrounded by more alarm lights, and under the apparent threat of a new alien attack.

One with the potential to be even worse than before.

THIRTY-TWO

“I CAN’T DO THIS,” REED whispered, burying his face in his hands. “Not again.”

I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at him. Mia didn’t bother. “You never even saw the aliens on Sanctuary. It was me who fought them, me and Cage and Alexei and . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she glared at me, Matt’s name dying on her lips.

I swallowed hard. “And . . . Matt,” I finished for her, meeting Mia’s gaze defiantly. “And Tyler. And my mother. And Rita. And a hundred other people we’ll never see again—”