Tarak answers on the second ring. "Mason?"

I hate how my breath catches. "Did you tell her?" I growl, steeling myself.

"Tell... her?" I hear the springs of his bed creek. "What did Miss Night tell you I said? I swear I wasn't-."

"Not Miss Night," I snap. "Your mother."

Sasha cringes beside me and slips her hand into Amari's.

"About what? I haven't told her anything since Daisy."

I lock my jaw, and I'm angry enough to almost believe he means this time. But I think he means last time, since he sounds confused enough that I believe he's in the dark. But that only makes this harder, since now I have no clue who did tell Singh about the phone. I sigh, easing forward and pinching the bridge of my nose. "She knows about the phone."

"What!? I just did that! How did she-?" He's quiet for a long moment. "You think I told her?"

"Don't act self-righteous. As if you haven't told her every important thing for years."

"But not this, Mason. It wasn't me; I promise."

"Shit," I hiss.

"You wanted it to be me?"

"She has them again. Daisy and Dion. And Tomas. She kidnapped them right off the road. We're going to get them back but... we don't know where to start. We don't even know how she knew where they were. We didn't tell anyone where they were going and we didn't even know what route Tomas was going to take."

"What do you need me to do?"

I clench my fist. It had been easy, sending him into certain death, when I'd believed he'd betrayed us. But I don't think he did now, and despite myself, I still don't want him to die. "I can't-."

"This is bigger than me," he whispers, gently, into my ear. "Don't lie to me, Mason."

I close my eyes and bite my lip hard enough to make it bleed. "We need to know if there's any buildings owned by her or the Academy outside the city. They'd have to be large enough for a lab."

"Any buildings owned by the Academy are public record. Even she can't get around that. They'd have to be owned in her name or her offshore account."

Diana glances at me in the mirror. "What offshore account?"

Stupid enhanced hearing.

"Sorry," Augustus says.

"The dissenters don't know about it?" Tarak asks.

Miss Night doesn't confirm that aloud, but she gives a terse shake of her head.

"How can we figure out what buildings she owns with it? Would there be record in her office?"

"Most likely not. Officials go in there. It'd be too easy to catch."

The cement road has once again turned into dirt and we rattle along, past dozens of trees.

Tae groans and bends at the waist, gripping her stomach.

"I need something, Tarak," I whisper. "I'll do anything."

"Don't be dramatic," he orders. "Let me call my grandma."

"Your grandma? Tarak, you-."

"Don't worry," he says, his voice calm enough to ease my shoulders back. "I've got this." With that, he hangs up on me.

Sasha smiles a bit and bumps her shoulder into mine.

"What?" I growl.

"You've forgiven him," she says.

"As if," I scoff. "He told Singh I was going to save Daisy and Dion. He almost got all of us killed."

"So, why did you hesitate to ask him to go into his mother's office?"

"Because he's useful."

"Because you love him," Tae whispers from the front, her eyes closed, head pressed into the dash board. "And you're scared he's going to die because of you."

I'm sure she's not trying to make me feel bad, but I do anyway. Here I am going on and on about my problems with Tarak when she's in pain over Tomas. I scooch forward on my seat until the belt digs into my waist and collar bone. I pull against her seat so I can reach her shoulder. "We are going to get him back," I say, firmly.

Tae's hand slips over mine and she turns her head, resting it against our hands. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she whispers.

I tighten my grasp on her shoulder. "Even if I die, Augustus will find him."

"I'll what?"

"Shush."

Tae lifts her head and her eyes find mine. She eases back in her seat, letting me shift so the belt loosens around me. "I don't want to lose anyone else," she whispers.

I don't know if she means Tomas or her brother, but I shake my head anyway. "You're not losing anyone."

"You can't-." she tries again.

I duck so our eyes are aligned. "I promise, Tae."

She takes a few ragged breaths, searching my eyes.

I can tell she wants to believe me. She wants to give into the hope I'm offering. But it's hard to do that when we're driving in an aimless direction waiting for the son of the enemy to help us.

She says nothing as she closes her eyes and releases my hand.

Sasha pats my knee when I sit back, giving me a sympathetic – or possibly pitying – look.

It turns my stomach, so I look out the window, trying my best not to pout. I wish I could give her a more definitive answer. Tell her that I know for sure Tomas is alive. But I can't do that.

The car begins to slow and I sit up.

"What's going on?" I ask.

Diana grips the steering wheel. "There's no more tracks. I've been driving blind for a few minutes, but there's been no turns and no more tire tracks."

I shove my door open. "Then we go on foot. In pairs. Amari, Sasha, go North. Diana, Tae, go South. Augustus and I will go East. Stay within shouting distance. Meet back here in thirty minutes if you find anything."

Amari catches my arm as I start walking away. "No offense, but Augustus doesn't really count. They can't defend you in a fight."

August flinches and sinks lower in my mind, like a cloud growing heavy with rain drops.

"They're all I need," I assure.

Amari sighs, but she releases my arm and lets me leave.

I don't know what I'm expecting to find as I keep walking. All I know is I can't go sit back at the car, waiting for Tarak to call with whatever his grandmother can tell him. I can't sit there, not knowing if Tomas is alright. And I know Tae can't either. Moving, even if it's obsolete, is better than just sitting there. Still, by the time I need to walk back to the car, I haven't found anything. There aren't even any footprints leading anywhere. No broken branches, or torn bits of clothing, or scattered leaves. Everything looks normal.

Tae and Miss Night are back at the car already when I return. Tae sits on the hood, her head in her hands. Diana stands in front of her, gripping her knee for comfort.

"Anything?" I ask.

Diana gives a grim shake of her head.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I step away from the two, in case Tarak has bad news. "Well?" I ask when the line connects.

"Where are you?" Tarak asks.

Despite myself, a flair of mistrust starts in my chest. "Why?"

Tarak huffs, "fine. But just know, my grandma gave me my mom's passwords and I'm looking at her computer right now."

"You're what!? Are you in her office!?"

"She's not here. She's at the compound I'm currently observing."

"What do you mean you're observing the compound?"

"I mean, she's got full blown heat signature sensors set up around this place and I can see every guard she has there. It is a lot of guards, Mason."

"Do you know where it is?"

"East of the city somewhere. It only lists coordinates."

"Then, we have to be near it. We lost sight of their tire tracks and we've been exploring on foot but no one's found anything yet." I turn back to the car and frown. "Actually, Amari and Sasha aren't back yet." In my mind's eye, I can practically see Tarak tensing and standing at Singh's desk. His eyes scan the red bodies moving across her computer screen as two people are dragged in and tossed onto the floor.

Tarak's breaths sharpen in my ear. "Mason, don't do anything stupid. I'm sure... I'm sure they're fine."

"I'll call you back," I hiss.

"Mas-!"

I march to Tae and Diana. "We should look for Amari and Sasha. It's been thirty minutes."

"Maybe Amari didn't want to come back because she felt bad about-." Diana glances at Tae, but doesn't finish.

I shake my head. "No. Amari knows better when we set a time limit. Something has happened."

"I agree," Tae says, her voice high pitched and scratchy. "We can't take the risk." She slides off the hood and starts walking North. "They can't have gotten far."

Within a few minutes of walking into the forest, I know something's off. All the bugs I could hear when I was searching are silent now. They scuttle on the trees and watch us passing, but they make no sound. Another few minutes and Augustus starts to groan in my head, sinking back until they've disappeared without a word.

"The compound is near," I rasp. "Tarak said there's a lot of guards. Be alert."

Something snaps off to our right and my head swivels that way.

"Mason, what's wrong?" Diana asks, when she realizes I'm no longer following them.

A soft gasp, followed closely by a whimper. Hard breaths, trying to stay light.

"Nothing," I say, and start walking after them.

Diana frowns when my hand slips to the gun I keep in my waistband. "Mason."

"Sh," I order. I snap my arms up towards the right and fire.