Worried expressions meet his question, mine included. But I’m not thinking about the camouflaged Speakers. My mind is still on the breakout.

“He said something about thinking I was dead,” I say, repeating what I’ve already shared with them if only because it rattled me so much. “What do you think he meant by that?”

“He was probably just trying to get under your skin,” Kael says, turning back to me. His eyes scan my features and his face softens before he places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “By the looks of it, he’s succeeding. Try not to let it get to you, princess. You said it yourself, you’ve never seen him before.” He pauses, then adds, unnecessarily, “And obviously, you’re very much alive.”

Everything Kael says rings true as the most likely explanation, but it still doesn’t sit well with me. None of them saw the look on the boy’s face, the utter incredulity, the shock, the disbelief … the horror.

The scene plays over and over in my mind as we sail back to the zoo’s wharf, with Arryn, Kael, Keeda, and Pandora discussing the unknown Speaker group and theorizing about who they could be and what new threat they might offer. Cami sits in silence beside me, her face haunted. I know what’s plaguing her thoughts, but we can’t discuss it here, not when I’ve just been accused of sympathizing with her mind-controlled brother.

But soon …

Soon we’ll be alone and free to talk. And when we do, we’ll start making plans.

Because tonight has told me one thing: I don’t care what anyone says—it’s time to return to Lengard.

CHAPTER SIX

It seems to take forever before the yacht docks at the zoo’s wharf, and even longer before we disembark.

By the time we shuffle along the catacomb tunnels and reach the three-pronged fork, I’m desperate to share my intentions with Cami, even if I have no idea how, exactly, we’ll break back into Lengard. Let alone how we’ll escape a second time.

As usual, we turn down the right fork and head along the flame-lit path. The left one, I recall, leads only to an immense chamber that I saw on my first visit here before being taken to the command center. I haven’t been back there since, but I’ve learned that the vast area is where the Remnants hold their group meetings, the space generous enough to accommodate the entire underground population. A handful of smaller rooms are connected to it for more intimate meetings, the likes of which had been planned for me that day, but otherwise it’s a dead end.

I’m still not sure where the middle fork leads. The path has remained dark the few times I’ve passed this way while coming or going from the catacombs.

When we finally arrive in the command center, I’m on edge, adrenaline still coursing through my body from the events of the night. The desire to do something is shredding my patience, yet I have to wait while Kael and Arryn debrief the Remnants who stayed behind. Despite how late it is, they’re all eager to hear what happened.