Daisy follows close behind, wrapped up in my jacket and wearing pants I'd stripped off a guard.

I carry Dion on my back through as many dark streets as possible, even though I feel like we're about to get mugged. The last thing we need is for someone to see the black veins Daisy has and alert a Hunter.

Daisy is surprisingly docile for an Infected. She almost seems completely normal, except for the jerky way she moves, the foam that drips from her mouth, and the black veins. I don't know if she's in the early stages of the Infection or if she's like the other girl I met... transforming into something different.

I have to call ten times before Tomas finally picks up.

"What?" His voice comes through groggy and barely understandable.

"I have a problem. A big problem. Get Tae."

The light flips on upstairs, and Tomas appears in the window, holding his phone to his ear still. "What the fuck, Mason?"

Daisy looks up at the light, her eyes wide and sparkling. She hisses something I can't make out and I look back up at Tomas with a shrug.

"Tae's mom can heal the Infection too, can't she?"

"Don't move," he hisses. "We'll be right down." He hangs up, leaving me to my babysitting duties.

In a few minutes, Tae is downstairs, grabbing my arms. She's in nothing but a loose nightgown and a fluffy blue robe. "Are you hurt? What were you thinking, Mason!? Were you trying to get yourself killed!?"

"I'm fine, Tae." I reach for her hands to stop her.

She swats my arm. "Don't tell me you're fine! Let me see. Did it scratch you anywhere? Are you hurt?"

"She didn't scratch me," I assure. "I think she knows we're helping her. She hasn't tried to attack."

Tae shakes her head. "Infected don't have that kind of reasoning, Mason."

"They were experimenting on them in there, Tae. We have no idea what she is now. Maybe she's not even infected."

"And your friend?" Tomas asks, approaching from behind Tae. He nods to Dion, who I've propped against a wall across the alley. "I thought you went in there to help him."

"Singh was controlling him."

"Singh was there!?" Tae screeches.

"Tarak told her," I rasp. I hate saying it out loud. I hate the way both of their expression ripple into something like remorse.

Tae and Tomas share a look, as if imagining the other betraying them, or worse, them betraying the other. Unable to fathom it, Tomas squeezes Tae's shoulder and his lips pinch when he looks at me. "I'm-."

I hold my hand up. "Unless you're about to offer me solutions for Dion and Daisy, I don't want to hear it."

"Is Dion infected?" Tae asks, scooting around me to examine him.

"I don't know for sure," I tell her. "If I could wake up Au-." My voice hitches and she peers back at me like she's waiting for me to say their name. "If I could wake Dion, I'd be able to tell, but he's out cold. Someone in there said he must be."

"Someone in there?" Tomas repeats, with a hard edge to his voice.

I look back at him and he's got his arms crossed over his chest. I shrug. "She was gone when I left, but she helped me find Daisy. They'd experimented on her, and she was... changed."

"Changed how?"

"I can't explain it," I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. "She had cat eyes and claws. Someone she scratched was sick and unconscious within a minute."

"And you let her go?" Tae asks, sitting back on her haunches, her hand resting on Dion's shoulder.

Daisy hovers nearby, making worried gasps and croaks.

"I wasn't going to kill her. She wasn't infected. She was completely aware of everything, and she helped me. All she wanted was to go home. I couldn't kill her."

"But you didn't bring her to me? If she's infected-."

"She wasn't," I argue. I don't know how I'm so sure. She certainly seemed infected. Maybe she was coherent, but she was still lethal. But, deep down, I don't think she wants to hurt anyone. She just wanted to be free. I don't regret my choice even with Tae's eyes boring into me. "She won't kill anyone," I promise.

Tae sighs and shifts her attention back to Dion. "I hope you're right. It's on your hands if she does."

"I'll look for her," I tell her. "Once I've got these two squared away. And I need to find Ryan."

"Ryan?" Tomas questions. "Why do you need him?"

"I asked him to lie to Singh for me. But Tarak told her the truth, so she said she was going to kill Ryan for helping me. I can't let him die."

"He could already be dead."

I chew on my lip. I'd considered this the whole time I was guiding Daisy here. "We're bound," I remind, having already thought of it. "I would know if he was dead. I would feel it."

"Are you sure? You've only been bound a short time. Maybe-."

"I would know," I insist.

Tomas studies me for a long moment. He nods. "Okay. Then, let us take Daisy and Dion. You head back to base, make sure Ryan's okay. Then you bring Sasha and Amari to Tae's parents' house."

Tae's head snaps up. "What?" Her hand falters away from Dion's pulse. "Tomas, I can't get my family involved in this." Her eyes flicker to me.

"We don't really have a choice." He nods to Dion and Daisy. "They could die without your mom's help."

"I get that, and I want to help them, I do... but..." Her eyes dart to me, quick and pointed. She makes a face at Tomas.

"I know," Tomas says. "But..." He struggles to find the words.

"Should I plug my ears or something?" I ask, dryly.

Tae sighs and stands, shivering. "You bring trouble, Mason."

"You came looking for trouble," I snap.

"No," she sighs, rubbing her hands together. "No, I don't mean this fight against Singh. We wanted that fight. But you spell out danger for my family and I can't... I can't risk that, Mason."

"Because of my parents?" I ask.

She hesitates, then nods. "Definitely because of them. They helped us for a price, Mason. I... I worry we haven't finished paying it."

"My parents are dead." As if any of us need the reminder.

"But their mistakes aren't," Tomas whispers.

I don't like the way they're staring at me. Like I'm somehow grotesque and diseased. As if I'm infected. "Then I'll stay away," I promise. "I'll send Amari and Sasha. I need to focus on Ryan anyway. He shouldn't pay for my mistakes. As long as Dion and Daisy get the help they need, nothing else matters."

Tae squeezes her eyes shut and bows her head, her long, black hair falling as a curtain in front of her face. "I don't know if we can help them, Mason. She's so far gone, and he was sick already. You saw how healing Amari affected her. She's strong. Dion is..."

"Dion is just as strong as Amari," I rasp.

"Listen," Tomas says, clapping a hand onto my shoulder, "I know you did a lot for him. To try to save him and Daisy. But you have to be willing to accept it might've been for nothing."

I smack his hand away and take steps back from both of them, my back to Daisy, who hisses over my shoulder. "It wasn't for nothing. Even if they die. At least I can say I tried. At least I can give them both some honor after they're gone instead of disposing of them the way Singh would've. Maybe I fail. Maybe they die. But don't you dare say it was for nothing. It was for them. It was for everything."

A tear rolls down Tae's cheek and she comes to stand in front of me, gathering her robe tight around her. She grabs my shoulders and squeezes. "I promise we'll try," she whispers. She squeezes harder and shakes me, as if she's trying to ingrain the message into my skin. "I won't let them die without trying to save them."

My knees nearly give out, so I step forward and engulf Tae in my arms.

Because of how bold and righteous she is, I forget how small she is. But with her trembling and our height difference, I feel like I'm holding a baby deer. Like I could break her if I'm not careful enough. But even as I lean into her, unable to bear the weight of the world by myself, she pushes back against me. She holds me steady and knocks her head against mine.

"It's okay," she whispers, her voice tender and so gentle it feels like silk to my ears. "It's okay, I've got you."

Beside us, Dion groans in his sleep and we pull apart.

Neither of us speaks, but Tae's hands return to my shoulders, pushing into me like she's afraid I'll fall over if she lets go.

I just might.

Tomas nods to me over her head. "We'll keep you updated. You should go find Ryan before it's too late."

I swallow hard and nod. I have to hope it's not already too late.