It could be a coincidence, he thought. All these people watching him. It could be his imagination, or just paranoia from all he’d gone through. People had an instinct to observe those around them. Didn’t they? A pair of eyes on him didn’t mean a Tangent spy for Kaine every single time. They might just be normal people wondering if they’d seen him before, somewhere on the NewsBops.

Making light of things, he realized, was an excellent way to get himself killed. He picked up his pace and hurried for his room.

3

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he said to Bryson after they’d both taken long gulps from their drink tubes. “I feel like every person I come across is watching me, then messaging Kaine or Weber or the cops as soon I move on. It’s really giving me the creeps.”

Bryson took another lengthy swallow. “Come on, dude. What good does running do? If he can follow us everywhere, then what’s the point of changing places?” Another glug. “Just chill and let’s do what Helga and her posse tell us.”

“That’s what we’ve done from the very beginning,” Michael said, halfheartedly fighting back. He mostly agreed with his friend. “It’s like we’re mice in a maze—loosed by Weber, manipulated by Kaine. I’m sick of it. There’s no reason the two of us couldn’t hack into the Hallowed Ravine all by our lonesome.”

“Well, yeah,” Bryson responded. “But it’d be awfully tough without Helga’s help and protection. At least you trust her, right?”

Michael thought about that. He did. He really did. “Yeah,” he finally answered. “But there’s still a tiny little bit of doubt hidden in there. Who knows, man. Maybe Kaine created her years before he captured me, had it planned out all along. I trust her, but I’m done ever trusting anyone one hundred percent again.”

“Even me?” Bryson asked.

Michael lay back on his pillows. “No. You’re different. You, I trust. Now go to sleep.”

“Helga might want us soon.”

“I’m sure we won’t start until morning. It’s still dark out.”

Michael closed his eyes, tried to relax. He saw that old lady peering at him from her hotel door. The whole world had gone nuts. Including him.

He fell asleep. Sarah smiled at him in his dreams.

4

Bryson woke him up early with a nudge. “Hey, considering the way you snored all night, I think you’re ready to get your lazy butt out of bed. Man, you sounded like an old-school lawn mower. I kept having Griever nightmares.”

Michael felt like death awakened from the deepest, darkest crypt of hell. He let out a long groan that didn’t do a thing to make him feel better. “Griever? Seriously? I thought your parents banned you from that game.”