Romy’s eyes burned with unshed tears. “I don’t know what to think.”

He stared down at her, eyes flickering over her face as his expression slowly hardened. Without another word, Atlas strode away.

* * *

“That doesn’t sound good.” Phobos shook his head as Deimos and Romy finished relating what had happened in the clearing. Elara, Thrym, and Deimos had watched the trial from the other side.

Romy was storing more of the seeds Phobos had “borrowed” in her pillowcase. Doing so after watching the trial made her nervous.

“I don’t like it,” muttered Thrym. “Like Atlas said, it’s too coincidental. The Mandate just chose to screen that trial weeks after we landed here? There’s something else happening.”

Phobos paced in the bungalow’s small space. “Dei is out of hospital. We have the means to grow food, we have a car, Elara knows where the sentry posts are and how to drive, and Romy knows when the patrols pass and the route to get out of here. Thrym’s watched Houston treat people. I’m confident we can find shelter. I feel like we’re out of our depth here now.”

Deimos stood beside his twin. “It’s become too dangerous. We’re trusting an entire camp to remain quiet. Do you know how stupid that is?”

That was what puzzled Romy. How wouldn’t the Mandate find out about Knot 27? A crashed battler couldn’t be an easy thing to miss.

“Tina, Atlas, and Houston are the only ones with transmitters,” Elara objected. “Unless they tell, the Mandate won’t find out.”

Romy didn’t know that. She’d seen the blue devices in Atlas and Houston’s ears, but assumed many would have the transmitters.

Phobos folded his arms, shaking his head. “How do we know there aren’t more?”

“Tina said so,” Elara withered back.

If Lucas worked for the Mandate, surely he’d have some means of contacting them. But if he had a device, why hadn’t the Mandate turned up to cart the knot off already? Her head ached from trying to puzzle it out.

“Tina, Atlas, and Houston,” Thrym said, lifting his head. “They’re tense. I’ve heard them arguing a lot lately. They seem . . . on edge.”

“You think it’s to do with us?” Romy asked, mouth dry.

He shrugged. “I’ve heard our names, but that’s as much as I got. Actually,” he stared at Romy, “they mention your name . . . like, a lot.”

She blanched. “Me? Why?”

“I figured maybe it was about you and Atlas,” he said, looking away. “But then I heard them mention the rest of us.”

Elara circled to Romy’s side. “You think it’s bad?”

He shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea. It could be nothing. A bad feeling I’m giving too much attention to.” Thrym flitted a look towards Romy.