I wanted to tell him not to be a moron—they’d definitely scan me—but I clung to that idiotic hope. I wiped my face and tried my best to shove all the fear away. It wasn’t going to help me get through this. I had to be strong. I’d done nothing wrong, no matter what that perv said.

Dust filled the air as the ship stopped overhead. I covered my eyes and lifted my jumpsuit collar to protect my nose and mouth.

Roan had waited too long. Why hadn’t he run?

A zipping sound filled the air. I squinted. Six figures rappelled down cables while the jet hovered above us.

“On the ground. Now!”

I shivered as my blood turned to ice. My knees hit the earth hard, and with that impact, I felt like I was floating outside of my body. Like this was happening to someone else. Except it wasn’t. It was happening to me.

Two of the soldiers grabbed Roan, and my heart pounded painfully in my chest.

“Leave her alone. She didn’t do anything wrong.” Roan’s voice sliced me.

“Stop struggling or you’re going to lockup with her,” one of them yelled over the noise.

“I’ll be okay,” I lied, but that didn’t stop Roan’s tirade.

I closed my eyes as hard hands groped me, searching for weapons. My heavy, panting breath sounded like it belonged to someone else as they twisted my arms behind me, locking them in cuffs.

Roan was still yelling, but it was drowned out by all the other noise. The ship. The STPF. The drones. The sound of my heart hammering in my ears.

Strong hands spun me around. The biggest block of a guy I’d ever seen towered over me, dressed in a navy-and-gray camo uniform. His mouth opened and closed a few times. “You’re just a kid,” he said as he shook his head.

What was he expecting?

He hesitated. For a second I thought he’d do the right thing and let me go. Then the moment was over.

I’d been an idiot for thinking that, even for a second.

He gently wrapped the cable around my waist before looping it through his gear and securing it. “Target acquired. We’re a go,” he said, and my feet lifted from the ground.

Roan was left alone among the derelict railroad cars, watching me. He yelled something that I couldn’t make out, and then snapped on his helmet and sped off. I watched as he disappeared from sight. He was the last bit of home I’d see. Maybe ever.

The soldier held me as we were sucked into the ship.

Roan was right. I had to hold it together. I couldn’t show any weakness. Even if all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry until they came to kill me.

Chapter Ten