“I think they’ll take their blood and run,” said Kira. “I intend to stop them before that happens.” They reached the seventh floor and burst out into the hallway, running at full speed. Green dropped to the floor, holding the door open behind him and raising his rifle like a sniper—but instead of looking behind him, he was looking forward to the far end of the hall. Kira didn’t stop to question; if the Ivies linked him at that staircase they might not think to look for anyone at the other. She pulled out her handgun as she sprinted, cursing herself for dropping her rifle, praying she could get to the stairs and behind the Ivies before Armin had a chance to escape. Marcus puffed behind her, struggling to keep up. She poured on the speed, ready to slam into the door and race up the stairs, when suddenly it opened on its own and an Ivie peeked out into the hall, assault rifle up and ready. Kira panicked, ready to throw herself to the side, when a loud crack split the air and the Ivie went down, a red hole blossoming between his eyes.

“Go!” Green shouted, and Kira didn’t even slow down, thanking him silently as she pelted up the stairs. She heard boots above her, and then the roar of a vicious windstorm; Armin and his soldiers were already fleeing to the roof.

“We don’t know where they all are,” said Marcus, holding her arm to stop her. “If there are still some on the eighth floor, and we go up past them to the roof, we’ll be surrounded.”

Kira concentrated on the link. “You’re right,” she said, pointing. “A big group up top, and a smaller group still down here.”

“That’s so weird,” said Marcus. “You can . . . feel them?” The look on his face wasn’t shocked or horrified, but it broke Kira’s heart just the same: For the first time in his life, he was looking at her as a stranger, someone he could only barely understand. She tried to ignore her sudden emotional vertigo and whispered her strategy.

“I can’t feel much detail,” she said. “Not like they can. I can’t tell how many there are, or pinpoint their locations. I figure there are one or two left on this floor, and a few more than that on the roof.” The wind was howling wildly outside, as if a storm had risen up out of nowhere, and it had dragged their pheromonal data away and left her blind. “You stay here and watch that door like your life depends on it, because it does. Shoot at it the instant it moves—don’t wait for a clear shot, just fire.”

“You’re not going up there alone.”