Tricky—just like the directions he’d given Mel, the lines he’d carved onto the back of her photo album. They didn’t lead to his cave hideout at all. No, instead they made the person following them parade back and forth in front of his secret place, giving him ample opportunity to decide whether or not to extend an invitation inside.

“What do you think happened?” Jared asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“The recent disappearance the Seeker mentioned.”

I stared ahead blankly. “Wouldn’t that be me?”

“I don’t think you would count as recent, Wanda. Besides, they weren’t watching the freeway before we left. That’s new. They’re looking for us. Here.”

His eyes narrowed, while mine widened.

“What have they been doing?” Jared suddenly exploded, slapping his hand loudly against the dashboard. I jumped.

“You think Jeb and the others did something?”

He didn’t answer me; he just stared out across the star-bright desert with furious eyes.

I didn’t understand. Why would the Seekers be looking for humans just because someone had disappeared in the desert? Accidents did happen. Why would they jump to that particular conclusion?

And why was Jared angry? Our family in the caves wouldn’t do anything to draw attention to themselves. They knew better than that. They wouldn’t go outside unless there was an emergency of some kind.

Or something they felt was urgent. Necessary.

Had Doc and Jeb been taking advantage of my absence?

Jeb had only agreed to stop slaughtering people and souls while I was under the same roof. Was this their compromise?

“You okay?” Jared asked.

My throat was too thick to answer. I shook my head. Tears streamed down my cheeks and fell from my chin to my lap.

“Maybe I’d better drive.”

I shook my head again. I could see well enough.

He didn’t argue with me.

I was still crying silently when we got to the little mountain that hid our vast cave system. It was actually just a hill—an insignificant outcropping of volcanic rock, like so many others, sparsely decorated with spindly creosote and flat-bladed prickly pears. The thousands of tiny vents were invisible, lost in the jumble of loose purple rocks. Somewhere, smoke would be rising, black on black.

I got out of the van and leaned against the door, wiping my eyes. Jared came to stand beside me. He hesitated, then put a hand on my shoulder.

“Sorry. I didn’t know they were planning this. I had no idea. They shouldn’t have…”

But he only thought that because they’d somehow gotten caught.

The moving truck rumbled to a stop behind us. Two doors slammed shut, and then feet were running toward us.

“What happened?” Kyle demanded, there first.