“This isn’t a chance to escape,” I whisper, my eyes filling with tears at the impossibility here. “They want us to run. They want to hunt, and all we’d be doing by taking off now is giving them what they want.”

“We’ll be smart about it.”

“You don’t think they haven’t considered all the options here? If we escape, they’re going to prison.” I blink away tears before they have the chance to fall. “Theo,” I say fiercely. “We will die today if we run.”

“We could die if they put us in room zero.”

Can’t say he’s wrong, but I don’t want to invite death.

“Please, Theo. I want us to go back inside, but if you run, I have to as well.”

I let go of him.

He blows out a long breath through his full lips. “Piper, you’re putting a lot on me right now.” Dropping his hands from around my arms, he steps away, giving me some distance.

“Please, come with me.”

“You want to walk back inside that hell?”

“I did use the word want, didn’t I? That’s not exactly correct. What I want is to be home, but this isn’t the way. We have to go back inside.”

He closes his eyes, his posture collapsing in defeat. “Fine.”

“Come on. Let’s try the front door,” I say, turning around.

Theo’s footsteps trudge behind me heavily. He wants to go back in there about as much as I do, but although he understands what’s happening, what they plan to do, he still wants the chance.

He’s only heading back to hell because of me.

My stomach turns to ice as we round the building and head to the front door.

I haven’t seen any other doors yet, but we’ve only seen three of the four sides.

“Theo,” I whisper as movement in the woods catches my eye.

“Keep walking, Piper,” he murmurs, nudging me toward the door. Suddenly he’s eager to get back inside.

Caleb steps out from between two trees. He’s about ten yards away. His head is tilted to the side, sleek styled hair not moving an inch under the gel.

He lifts an arm and points a sword toward me and Theo with a wide, toothy smile on his face. The blade reflects a small slice of sun peeking through the leaves above. He has a sword!

We have to get back inside—right now. We back up, moving slowly toward the front of the building, and I grip Theo’s hand. Theo looks over his shoulder. “It’s open again,” he mutters.

Owen closed the door when we left. Where is he now, and why did he leave it open? Because this is what we’re supposed to do. They want us to run, but to survive, we have to go back in.