Three figures ran toward us from the cars and hurled themselves at our attackers. Thanks to his signature duster, I knew Dimitri led the group.

“Get out of here,” he called to Adrian and me. “You know where to meet. We’ll cover you. Drive fast—they’ll probably be on the road soon.”

Adrian helped me up, and once again we ran together. I’d hurt my ankle in the fall, so I moved slowly, but Adrian helped me along and let me lean on him. All the while, my heart was threatening to pound out of my chest, even when we reached the safety of the Mustang. He guided me to the passenger side. “Can you get in okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, sliding in and unwilling to admit the pain was growing. I prayed I hadn’t slowed us too much. I couldn’t stand the thought of being the one responsible for Adrian’s capture.

Satisfied, Adrian raced over to the driver’s side and started the car. The engine roared to life, and he followed Dimitri’s orders to the letter, peeling out at a speed I was envious of. Out on this country highway, however, it seemed unlikely there were any cops. I glanced behind us a few times, but by the time we made it to I-10, it was obvious no one had followed us. I sighed gratefully and leaned my head against the seat, though I was still a long way from being calm. I couldn’t assume we were safe yet.

“Okay,” I said. “How on earth did you guys find me?”

Adrian didn’t answer right away. When he did, I could tell it was with great reluctance. “Eddie put a tracking device in your purse, back at my place.”

“What? He couldn’t have! They searched me.”

“Well, I’m sure it didn’t look like one. I don’t know what he ended up getting. He got it from your people, actually. As soon as Trey confirmed the meeting tonight, Belikov was on the phone with every guardian in a two-hour radius, trying to recruit backup. He called the Alchemists too and convinced them to share some tech.”

There were so many crazy things about what he’d just said, I didn’t know where to begin parsing it. All sorts of wheeling and dealing had gone on without me realizing it. And even when it had been settled, no one had told me about it. Plus, the Alchemists had been involved? Helping the guardians to track me?

“The earrings,” I said. “That’s where they came from. The tracker must be in one of them. I never would have guessed.”

“I’m not surprised, knowing the way you guys work.”

The rest of tonight’s reality began to sink in. The last of my fear subsided—only to be replaced by anger. “You lied to me! All of you! You should have told me what you were doing—that you were tracking me and planning a raid! How could you keep that from me?”

He sighed. “I didn’t want to, believe me. I told them over and over they needed to get you in the loop. But everyone was afraid you’d refuse to take the device if you knew about it. Or that you’d somehow slip up and give away the plan to those nuts. I didn’t believe that, though.”