“She’d tell us to help them. No matter the cost. Go,” I tell him. “Get them out and find the others.”

Julio nods once, a tight snap of his head, as if there are words he’s holding back. He darts through the port and starts shouting out orders. A moment later, a train of Summers follow him down the hall and out of sight.

I jog through the north gate. Chill’s already got the Winters organized, forming a line into the passage in the closet, the one Kai and I used to sneak up from the catacombs. As I rush past him toward the gymnasium, he calls out to me, “Jack, where the hell are you going?”

“I’m going after the eye.”

The low rumble grows louder, as if the earth is preparing to scream. As if the entire place is ready to devour itself. I cut through the back halls of the Winter wing, dodging debris and shielding my face from the sparks that shower from dangling wires.

I round the last turn to the gym. The doors are jammed shut, and I shoulder them open, wedging myself inside. The air is thick with fumes. The gymnasium is filled with rows of stasis chambers on wheeled platforms, their lids open and dark, the room already evacuated. A generator sputters on the far side of the room, low on fuel. A single domed lid is still closed in the far corner, bright inside, the ventilator humming.

I weave through the rows of stasis chambers toward it, spotting Kai’s crown of short, dark spikes through the fogged glass. Her face is peaceful behind a layer of frost. The Guards evacuated everyone but Kai—the deserter, Lixue called her. They probably deemed her unworthy of rescuing.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Frantic, I push buttons on the display, but the lid won’t open. I fall as another tremor rocks the room, huddling under Kai’s chamber as a chunk of ceiling collapses. When I look up, the red emergency release lever is right in front of me. I flip it. The lid of the dome rises with a rush of fog, exposing Kai’s naked body. Her right hand’s clenched in a fist. I pry the eye free and zip it into my pocket.

Torn, I stand beside her chamber. She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Amber. Still, I can’t leave her here to die.

I shrug off my jacket and wrap it around her. A stitch tears in my shoulder as I grab her arm and pull her upright. With a groan, I sling her over my good shoulder and haul her to the exit.

“Just so we’re clear, we’re even after this,” I mutter, wondering if part of her can hear me. If any part of her will wake up and remember this.