So much worse than it was last year. If we ever get out of here…

It’s Ollie’s thoughts I’m hearing. I’m sure of it. These thoughts sound like Ollie. Which means he must be alive, and that in itself is a miracle.

If Emma ever finds us…

It’s him. I’m one hundred percent sure of it now. He’s alive. Thank God.

Okay, Ollie. I hear you. Come on. Tell me where you are.

I close my eyes, willing him to say more, to think more.

Ninety-one freaking days and counting—

Oh, God. I’d suspected he was replaced over Christmas break, but hearing it spelled out like that…

Colin, dude, you’ve gotta try harder. I know you’re worried about Emma—

Colin. I almost gasp again. My dad. He’s with Ollie. I feel myself tensing, concentrating harder than I ever have in my life. Please, Ollie, give me a clue. Something.

This cage is sick. Trapped here, no windows. One meal a day… We’re all freaking losing it… Everyone’s so skinny… I’m gonna get this all on film and send that bastard straight to prison.

A cage? What cage? Where is there a cage on this island? It’s somewhere without windows…

I spin around to face my friends. I don’t run. The last thing I want to do is catch the attention of the guards. I approach Levi deliberately. Of all of us, he knows this island the best.

“A cage,” I whisper to him. “A place on this compound without windows. It’s where Ollie and the others are. Where could that be?”

I watch Levi’s expression morph from confusion to recognition. “There’s a lab on the second floor. Strictly off-limits. There might be a cage there—I’m not sure.”

It’s the best lead we have. The only lead.

“Ollie and the parents,” I exhort my friends under my breath. “They might be in the lab on the second floor. It’s a windowless cage. Get everyone to the boats. Go.”

Before I’ve even processed what’s happening, Ansel and Pippa have kicked two of the guards to the ground in a surprise attack. One guard’s gun goes flying, shooting into the air. Jago grabs it and points it at the third guard’s head. Which gives Maude and Theodora an opening to pound open the door to the room. “Go,” Theodora orders me and Levi. “We’ll find you. Just go!”