We wait, listening for an aftershock. The cave whistles softly. The edge of the map flutters as a cool draft hisses through a new crack in the wall. I trace it with my light to a hole in the ceiling. Kicking aside a pile of fallen stones, I stand underneath the hole and shine my light up. The beam reflects off a short metal rail.

Those weren’t stairs on the map. It was a ladder.

“Give me your bow,” I say, tucking the flashlight in my shirt pocket so the beam points up. Reluctantly, Kai shrugs out of her bow and hands it over. I lift it high, catching the bottom rung with the hooked end. The ladder slides down with a shriek.

Dropping to a crouch, I lace my hands together and boost Kai up. She scales the rungs ahead of me, as eager to be out of the dusty, claustrophobic space as I am. I jump, and the ladder trembles as I snag a rung and haul myself up after her. My shoulder aches, and with a pang, I wonder where Amber, Julio, Poppy, and Marie are. If they felt Fleur’s quake and experienced the same relief I—

An aftershock rocks the ladder, raining loose shale over our heads. Kai shrieks, losing her grip. She grasps a rung as she slides, her foot catching on my shoulder as she scrambles for leverage. We hold fast, waiting for the tremor to still.

“Hurry,” I tell her. “Before the next one.”

We clamber up the last few feet to an opening in the floor above us. Kai wriggles out of the tunnel, then reaches down and helps me through. My light bounces off walls of metal shelving.

“Where are we?” Kai asks.

“If Lyon’s map is right, we’re in a maintenance closet close to the Crux.” I dust myself off and crack the door. The overhead lights in the hall flicker like strobes. I duck back from the opening as a team of Guards ushers a group of Seasons and Handlers out of their rooms toward the Crux. The Winters’ arms are weighed down with backpacks and luggage, as if they’re being moved to another hall. I recognize a few of them. Kai peeks over my shoulder through the crack, hoping for a glimpse of her sister. Guards holler to each other on the other side of the plexiglass port at the end of the corridor. One of them points to his computer monitor, smacking its side. I glance up at the nearest camera, but there’s no blinking red light.