But the weight is lifted. A hand grabs my arm, heaving me upward, and I collide into Ryan, his Chicago hoodie. A baseball cap shields his eyes. A dark gray neck gaiter conceals his face to his nose. He yanks it down.

He looks panicked—more than he’s ever shown. “What are you doing here?”

“How did you get here so fast?”

Confusion flickers in his eyes. “They sent coordinates an hour ago.”

My stomach drops as the realization that I’ve been set up clicks. The mayor knew it was me. He baited me here, and I fell for it.

Before I can tell Ryan, he drags me behind him. His grip is tight. He’s too fast. I can’t keep up.

I turn for Katie. Scream her name. She runs after me, until she’s next to me, clutching my bicep as we weave through people.

I grasp the phone and hold it up. I can’t tell what I’m recording, if anything at all. The chanting and shouting are too intense to concentrate. But if these are my final moments, I’m taking out as many Swarm as I can.

Cullen pushes past a man in the crowd. “Lia!” He looks from me to Katie, trying to read the situation, before glaring at Ryan with mistrust. Ryan looks more like the Swarm than anyone else here.

I grab Cullen’s hand. “We have to leave.”

Ryan pauses long enough to scowl at my hand in Cullen’s. Then he takes the lead, guiding me, Cullen, and Katie away from the center of the protest. And that’s when my phone vibrates.

Before I can even blink, Ryan grabs his cell from his hoodie. Buzzing and chiming go off around us. Blue orbs light up the riot. Everyone around us seems to check their phones.

The Swarm is identifying the victim.

In the milliseconds it takes for Ryan to check the message and look at me, the uprising around us hushes, blurs, and disappears. I stop breathing.

It’s me. I’m the victim. I walked right into their trap.

Ryan’s unreadable gray eyes soften at first, then harden just as quickly.

He looks past me to Cullen. “Run.” His voice is severe. “Get her out of here,” he screams. “Run.” Anger. Panic.

The noise and pandemonium return like an explosion, overwhelming my senses, my ability to think. Ryan turns and charges into the center of the riot. Cullen yanks on my arm and takes off with Katie matching our pace. I stumble behind, turning one last time to see Ryan charging the five Initiators parting through the crowd in my direction. Lip Spikes leads it. Hood, glasses, and the rest of his arrogant face exposed.

I lift my phone. Aim it.

All around us, people start screaming as they realize what’s happening.