“Okay, we need Katherine. We need all of us energized and awake, it’s gonna be a long night. Everyone else . . . take the next few minutes to do what you need to be ready, then get back down here so we can strategize.” Tenn turned to Bentley. “Can you get Royce and Tegan some⁠—”

“Squishy already went. He’ll be back soon.” Bentley nodded.

Tegan snapped her fingers, and a dry erase board appeared on the wall. She held a marker out. “Let’s talk new tricks for fighting these bastards.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

FRANKIE

The second drop from the tunnel wasn’t as far or as fast, yet when my feet touched solid ground, my knees buckled and my legs gave out. I crashed into sand on all fours, but it wasn’t soaked in blood. It was just normal golden sand. I sank back onto my heels and pushed my hair out of my face with the backs of my hands. The tears I’d been crying were still sliding down my face, but crying wasn’t going to get me home to him faster, so I needed to at least function while I cried.

But as I looked around at my new surroundings I was filled with confusion. I was nowhere. As in, there was nothing here. I’d landed in some kind of cove, like a pocket dug out of the towering cliff walls. Behind me, the ocean blended into the horizon. The waves rolled onto the shore like a lullaby. The salty air tried to calm my anxiety, but it just wasn’t going to have the same effect it usually did. Because I was stuck. There was no land in sight behind me, not that I thought I could swim far in the open ocean. In front of me were stone cliff walls that had to be a hundred feet tall. This little piece of land was a small U-shape cut into the cliffside and only ran maybe thirty feet deep. The sand turned to river rocks up ahead. That was it. Nothing else.

I’m stuck.

Panic bubbled in my chest, threatening to shut my whole body down. My heart pounded too fast. My vision began to tunnel. I groaned and bent over, pressing my forehead to the cold sand. I tried to breathe in sync with the waves. I had to calm down. There had to be an answer here, something I just didn’t see yet. Everest sent me here. He wouldn’t have sent me somewhere I couldn’t get out of. He wanted me home as much as I did.

Breathe, Frankie. Breathe.

There had to be a way out. My bracelet buzzed along my skin. Of course! Stupid girl. Ask Lassie. I sat up straight and held my wrist out, holding my fingers over the stones. Okay, Lassie. Show me where to go.