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Chapters (62)
  1. Dedication
  2. Contents
  3. Part 1
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-one
  25. Part 2
  26. Chapter Twenty-two
  27. Chapter Twenty-three
  28. Chapter Twenty-four
  29. Chapter Twenty-five
  30. Chapter Twenty-six
  31. Chapter Twenty-seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-one
  36. Chapter Thirty-two
  37. Chapter Thirty-three
  38. Chapter Thirty-four
  39. Chapter Thirty-five
  40. Chapter Thirty-six
  41. Chapter Thirty-seven
  42. Part 3
  43. Chapter Thirty-eight
  44. Chapter Thirty-nine
  45. Chapter Forty
  46. Chapter Forty-one
  47. Chapter Forty-two
  48. Chapter Forty-three
  49. Chapter Forty-four
  50. Chapter Forty-five
  51. Chapter Forty-six
  52. Chapter Forty-seven
  53. Chapter Forty-eight
  54. Chapter Forty-nine
  55. Chapter Fifty
  56. Chapter Fifty-one
  57. Acknowledgments
  58. About the Author
  59. Back Ad
  60. Credits
  61. Copyright
  62. About the Publisher

“I won’t make anyone else come with us,” said Hobb, addressing the four Defense Grid soldiers in their group. “These girls have handled themselves just fine this far; you can do more good following Haru back south, rounding up as many humans as you can.”

“Then we leave first thing in the morning,” said Haru. “Rest while you can, because we have a lot of ground to cover.”

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

Kira’s map showed a prison. It was near the shores of Candlewood Lake, on a long southern finger of water called Danbury Bay. That, she determined, would be the most likely place for a group of rebel Partials to set up their headquarters: The same defenses that kept the prisoners in could be used to keep the enemy out, and the Ivies would be well set up to fight off Morgan’s forces. She left the trail she’d thought of as safe, winding through the residential streets instead of the forested strip between them, hoping to avoid any more of the terrifying warning markers—and the people who’d set them. She still didn’t know what to think of the Ivies, and when she finally met them she wanted it to be on her terms.

Even though she tried to avoid the forests, they were still so prevalent that she ended up tramping through a number of thickly wooded hills and gullies. Crossing a stream near Padanaram Road, she found another bright IV carved into a tree and gave it a wide berth. The land rose steadily from here, a gentle but continual slope, and a quarter mile later she passed a fallow farm, the fields completely overrun with ten-year-old trees. Across the field lay the prison, and she crept through the underbrush slowly, cautiously, practically crawling, and stopping every few seconds to listen for any sounds, either ahead of or behind her. She heard nothing, and when she dared to use the link, she felt nothing there either. The crossing seemed to take hours, and the sun was well past its peak when she drew near to the prison. The light’s behind me now, she thought, lying low in the weeds as she planned her approach. If I stand up I’ll be silhouetted for everyone to see, but if I stay low they’ll have the sun in their eyes, and I’ll be hidden in shadows. She crept forward silently, holding her breath.

The prison was as empty and decrepit as every other building she’d passed.