No response. I fumbled in the dark, dragging myself along the floor, groping with my bound hands. The emergency lights flickered to life. I scrambled to where my father lay slumped on the floor and struggled with his weight, heaving him onto his side. I found his pulse, fast and uneven. Blood smeared the side of his head.

“Come on, Dad,” I muttered, shaking his uniform jacket. Sure enough, I found the chip that unlocked my cuffs in his breast pocket. Awkwardly, I angled my hands to scan it over the cuffs, and they dropped away. I kicked them for good measure and pocketed the chip. I never wanted to wear any kind of restraints again. Was this what had made Cage so desperate to escape Sanctuary? The prisoners spent their lives chipped and monitored. I’d long since stopped being angry with them for taking me hostage, but now I understood their motivations on a deeper level.

I had to learn what was happening on the ship. On the off chance they’d left Jasper his communicator, I triggered my own with a thought.

A wave of agonizing pain overwhelmed me. I screamed, pitching to the floor and clawing at my head as if I could scrape the shards of torment from behind my eyes.

The pain faded, leaving me gasping at my comm device in astonishment. I stroked my finger over it. What had just happened? I’d had my comm device since I was fifteen. I’d never gotten this kind of feedback before.

Did I dare retry? I hesitated. My heart clamored at the thought of more pain, but on the other hand, the comm unit was my only hope of contacting the others. Staring at my distorted reflection in its surface, I ground my teeth and triggered it again.

The agony was even worse this time. I tasted blood as I bit through my own lip. I signaled the comm device to deactivate, but the pain distracted me, shoving my effort aside and doubling me over in torment. I used the pain to narrow my thoughts, deactivating the damn thing on the third attempt.

If that first attack was a warning, this was the real thing. I yanked the comm out of its slot, leaving a metal hollow in my arm, and gaped at it in disbelief, this thin metal circle that was so much a part of my life. Having it turn against me felt like almost as much of a betrayal as my parents siding with the company.

Part of me wanted to throw it away, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Still, I sure as hell didn’t want it connected to my body, so I tucked it into my pocket.

Only one person other than me had touched that device.

Liam.

It had to be him. He’d done this. But how? And why?

It didn’t matter. If I ever saw Liam again, we’d be having a very serious conversation, one that just might end with me using my newfound abilities to open a hole inside him.