I set the tray on the floor, glaring at the Guard on the other side as he slides the panel shut again. So much for eating. Despite the stasis sickness, my stomach rumbles, but I know there’ll be no food coming. It’ll be another few days before my body can handle anything more than bland liquids and diet supplements, and by then, Lyon will be done with his Culling.

The tablets dissolve into a chalklike paste on my tongue, but I swallow the medicine down, determined to keep my strength up. Sliding down the cold stone wall, I press the water bottle to my temple.

I have one week to find a way out of here.

And then . . . then I will hunt for Jack.

A handful of soft voices drift from the other cells. I recognize some of them, but the conversations are quickly silenced by the crow’s shrill caw. I open my eyes, shaking off the heavy shroud of sleep as the echo of footsteps grows louder in the tunnels. Guards—a team of them, at least. The locks on my cell door snap and I stiffen as it swings open, wondering if the old man got smart and changed his mind about giving me a week to think.

I brace myself for a fight I can’t win. If the Guards plan to haul me upstairs for Termination, I might as well spend the last of my energy giving them a reason to kill me right here. Rising to my feet, I step back from the door as a figure stumbles over the threshold. Kai Sampson wobbles on weak legs to the bunk, and the bolts clank shut behind her. She blinks at me, her dark eyes wide above pronounced cheekbones, the sharp lines of her face etched in a sickly pallor.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

She studies me with an equally wary expression, arms folded around herself to hide the stasis tremors. “They ran out of cells. I guess we’re doubling,” she rasps, her voice still hoarse from disuse. She backs to the edge of the mattress, the fire-retardant plastic creaking as she sits down.

“If you believe that, you’re a bigger fool than I thought.” There aren’t many voices coming from the other cells. Not nearly enough to fill them.

Kai’s eyes pierce me through the semidarkness of the lower bunk. No. She’s no fool. Lyon put her here for a reason. “How did your meeting with the professor go?” I ask in a slow drawl.

“You mean Chronos.”

I choke out a disgusted laugh. “Swore your fealty so soon? I expected better from the girl who took down Jack Sommers.” I sip from my water bottle.

Kai pales as she watches me drink. Arms wrapped around her waist, she lurches for the toilet.