Cage’s grip on my wrist became painful as he wrenched me along. “Imani,” I repeated, almost in a whisper, but I was scrambling after him already. I didn’t have more time to think before Cage dragged us forward with phenomenal speed, bashing our elbows and shins as he accelerated in bursts, putting distance between us and the hunters.

At last, after what felt like an hour of twisting and turning, we stopped, collapsing against a dead end. Our breath echoed in the tiny space. I couldn’t see anything in the shadows. My joints ached where Cage had slammed me against the walls in our hurried flight, and his body trembled with the effort of carrying us.

In a matter of seconds, Matt and his new friends had reduced our group of frightened but capable anomalies to three terrified teenagers huddling in a vent on an alien-infested space station. And just like we’d abandoned Matt, even without meaning to, we’d left our friends behind at the hunters’ mercy. Imani, Alexei, Jasper, Mia, Reed. All of them gone in less than five minutes. How long before the hunters caught up with us, too? I dropped my head to my folded arms and faced the truth. One way or another, we were going to die on Obsidian.

THIRTY-THREE

“KENZIE,” CAGE SAID GENTLY, AND I became aware that he’d been calling my name for a while. I’d heard it without really registering what the word meant.

“Yeah,” I said. My voice sounded listless and dull, almost unrecognizable to my own ears.

“Kenzie. We need you to get us out of this vent.”

I laughed. I meant it to be a quick snort of derision, but it got out of control, gaining a life of its own and becoming a hysterical giggle.

“Kenzie!” Cage and Rune chorused.

I choked back my agitation, still fighting the odd hiccup of mirth. “Sorry,” I said. “I’ll get right on that. What do you want me to do?”

Cage’s voice remained somehow calm and steady. “Open a portal.”

I glared in the direction I thought he was. “I. Don’t. Know. How.” I made every word a snarl, knowing he didn’t deserve it, but channeling all of my hatred and energy in his direction. “I’ve done it twice. Both times, magic portal through a wall. Fantastic. I barely know what I’m doing. I couldn’t use Matt’s power before, and I didn’t do anything to help us when the hunters attacked. I’m not your secret weapon!”

“Then what?” Rune cut in, her voice sharper than I’d ever heard it. “We die in this vent because you’re too scared to try?”