They pull Tair away and tranq him; shoot him; beat him down with the barrels of their guns; they pull me away and tranq me; drug me up; they tear us apart, dragging me one way and him the other; they torture him; torture me; torture us both; drag Tair in front of me lifeless; in every vision my eyes reflect the same fear that’s coursing through me now.

Can I save him this time? Can I even save myself?

Tair’s thoughts zinged through his fingers on my arms. We’ll get through it.

So he said, but he couldn’t hide the doubt in his mental voice as his eyes flicked around the room, looking for a way to escape that didn’t exist. Every future looked the same and I wanted to plug my ears against the screams and cries and pleading growing louder by the second at the edge of my hearing.

Our choices in these next few moments could only change how we suffered.

Not if.

From everything I could see, that was already decided.

We weren’t going to get through this.

I could think of lies and schemes and strategies, but for every idea I had, the future played out ugly anyway. Whatever I picked, every choice ended in separation. Pain. Death. I pushed my limits searching for one—just one—that gave us a chance.

Dizzy waves twisted in my head and only Tair was keeping me standing at this point. My vision blurred as frustrated tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve known what Darren was up to.

I should’ve known he’d had me at check all along.

Now my stupid DNA was going to get Tair and Eva and Emma and all the others killed.

A midnight attack. Men stomp through Eva’s compound, shooting at will. The Ravens run but it’s too sudden and they’re separated, forced into pockets of resistance by the overwhelming number of Black Helix goons swarming from trucks and choppers. They pin Eva down in her lab. Bullets ping off the bulletproof glass. She types frantically, red strands of hair popping out of her bun as she tries to send messages to the others with her last moments, but cracks spider web and more Helixes arrive, peppering the glass.

No.

Cipher and Hunter crouch behind a bank of consoles, bullets zinging overhead. “Cover me,” she says before running out. “Wait!” He reaches, agony on his face, but she’s already moving. Bolts of bluish white electricity crackle from her hands, knocking back a wave of attackers. Knight shoots the others, hitting body after body, but there are too many. One last shot rings out and red sprays. Cipher falls. Hunter lunges, screaming. Another shot. Both of them falling—

No. No. No.

All because I’d thought I knew everything. Because I’d thought I saw everything.