Two floors above the kitchen fight, Ellie and Jayce hurried to the library. It seemed they were still one step ahead of the Agents who had not yet penetrated this far into the house in their search. Jayce hoped that the kitchen was as far as they had come, but he couldn't be sure. His guests, welcome and unwelcome, had mostly been in the gardens making the most of the warm spring evening, and he hoped agents would concentrate their search outside.

They reached the door. Jayce flung it open, waved Ellie through, checked the hallway one more time in both directions, then followed.

He leaned against the inside of the door and let out a long breath. They were safe for the moment, but perhaps only for the moment.

'You okay?' he said. Now they had stopped he noticed how pale she had become. The crazy rush of adrenaline that had infused their bodies was beginning to fade.

'I'm okay,' Ellie replied quietly. Ellie looked around the room, as if she had only just realised where they were.

'Don't be scared. You're safe in here.'

'But we can't stay here.'

'We can sit down for a minute.'

'We need to get Tila's staff.'

'I'm sure she's on her way.'

'How do you know? Maybe they caught her.'

Jayce looked at the floor. 'I'll get it out. She'll be here, right?' It was a helpless question. He pushed away from the and his legs wobbled with every step.

Ellie stood in the middle of the room with her arms wrapped around her, as if cold and unable to choose a direction.

They were both breathing hard from the escape, and Ellie's eyes were wide and afraid. But where Jayce felt weak and wobbly, Ellie had stiffened. The movements she made were strangely rigid. Watching her now, he could see none of the easy fluid motion he saw before. Fear triggered each person differently. It made him want to run, it made Tila want to fight. But fear seemed to paralyse Ellie, it sucked her will and drained her strength and she seemed to Jayce to be utterly helpless.

'The sooner we can get out of here the better, right? I'll get the chip out too. Meantime, no one knows we're here so we have a few minutes, okay?'

'Okay,' Ellie replied quietly.

Jayce thumbed the lock to release the door. The staff was still on the shelf, exactly where Tila had left it. The chip was gone.

'Um... Ellie?' Jayce stared at the empty locker. This was probably bad. No answer came from Ellie so he turned. Ellie had moved to the door. She held a finger to her lips.

'What?' he whispered, walking toward her.

'Shhh, listen!'

Jayce pressed one ear to the door and heard the voices.

'Your friends?' Ellie whispered, full of hope.

Jayce tried to shake his head while it was still pressed against the door. 'No. Let me see.'

They swapped places as quietly as they could, and Jayce cracked the door open. Two agents stood in the hallway halfway between the library door and the stairs. The same stairs Tila would be taking. He softly closed the door again. 'Two agents. I think they're checking the rooms on this floor.'

'What do we do?'

'Wait for Tila?'

'But she won't know they're up here already.'

'Then I think we should run.'

'What? Where to?'

'There's bedrooms further down the hall, and more stairs. We can hide and give Tila a chance to get in the library.'

'They'll shoot us!'

'We'll wait till they go into another room, then run, okay? You go first.'

'Okay,' said Ellie, but she sounded far from convinced.

Jayce opened the door again, and waited.