The lights in the apartment were already on when Zaphron let us in. I squeezed through the door, barely able to stand side by side with him in the narrow hall.

The whole apartment was small—not even half the size of Mum's flat. I followed Zaphron through the hall, passing two closed doors on the way to a larger room that appeared to serve as both a lounge and kitchen.

"Zaph! You scared the crap out of me!" A skinny guy jumped to his feet from behind a desk in the corner. His sandy-brown curls dangled in front of hazel eyes that had been layered with smudged eyeliner. "Thought I was going to have to tase someone." He sat back down, keeping his eyes glued to a cartoon he was watching on a holo at the desk.

"Well maybe if you'd been watching the camera feeds, we wouldn't have been such a surprise," Zaphron said, his tone playful—verging on patronising.

The guy seemed oblivious to the jibe. He pointed a finger at me without looking away from his show. "I thought Atlanta told you to stop bringing girls back here."

I felt my face heat as Zaphron glanced at me and cleared his throat. "Uh, Jax. This is Astrid—as in Astrid Wyatt.

At the mention of my name, Jax's head snapped up and he frowned. "This wasn't part of the plan."

A door swung open in the hall behind us and an athletic girl with cropped blue hair appeared. Following her was the guy I had seen helping Zaphron the very first time at the station.

"What's going on here?" She surveyed me with a wary expression. "Is that—?"

"Astrid Wyatt." Jax piped up before Zaphron could answer.

Her eyes widened and she looked to Zaphron for confirmation. He nodded, not daring to blink as he held her steely gaze.

"This constitutes more than observation, wouldn't you say?" she asked, her dark eyes narrowing.

Zaphron folded his arms across his chest. "Something's wrong. Someone tried to grab her tonight."

My mind flashed back to the moment Zaphron had kicked that guy's head in, and goosebumps rippled down my arms at his words.

She closed her eyes and let out a breath through flared nostrils. "How many cameras did you pass en route? What if you were seen?"

Zaphron waved a dismissive hand at her. "Get Jax to handle it."

"Already on it," Jax chipped in from behind us, swiping away the cartoons and bringing up a set of camera feeds.

She portioned a glare equally between Zaphron and me. "You've put us all at risk bringing her here—yourself especially—I hope it's worth it Zaph." She turned and stomped away, shoving open a side door in the hall.

"And what if they had taken her?" Zaphron's voice rose as he called after her, but she had already slammed the door shut.

The guy from the station let out a loud exhale. "You know she's regimented Zaph."

"Like a loyal soldier," he replied bitterly, stalking into the kitchenette and pulling an unlabelled glass bottle from the fridge. He took a gulp, inhaling sharply through his teeth afterwards.

I glanced away from Zaphron and met the two-toned eyes of his companion. He had a jade green Lens in one eye, offsetting the natural deep brown of his other eye and the rich umber of his skin. "I'm Axel." He extended a hand toward me, smiling. "It's nice to meet you Astrid."

I clasped his hand, feeling like I might cry. His welcoming gesture was so at odds with the startled reactions of the other two that I didn't know how to respond.

He joined Zaphron in the kitchen and emptied a carrier bag full of takeaway containers onto the counter. The whole room suddenly smelt like grease and burnt pseudo-meat.

Zaphron scooped up a box and cracked the lid, after taking another swig of the bottle he offered it to Axel. "Drink?"

Axel swatted the bottle away from where Zaphron was holding it in his face. "Not now you've had your gob around it."

Zaphron scoffed and took the bottle and food down to the sofa. His boots scuffed a glass coffee table as he kicked them up.

"Do you want something to eat?" Axel offered me a box.

"No thanks." I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged myself. Food was the furthest thing from my mind.

He paired a nod with a sympathetic smile. "That's okay, I'll put one aside anyway." He turned to Jax. "How about you?"

Jax rose and grabbed a pack from the floor. "Nah, I got to get going—got another job tonight." He swiped the bottle from Zaphron's hand on his way out. "You've been cleared from any footage—I'll take this as payment."

Zaphron sucked his teeth as he watched Jax leave. His eyes stopped on me in the hall and he patted a spot on the sofa next to him.

"What is going on?" I asked, taking a tentative perch on the edge of the grey cushions. I was poised to run at a second's notice, my nerves still buzzing.

"Where do you want to start?" Zaphron said around a mouthful of food. Something about his tone had shifted. He seemed less open now it was no longer just the two of us and sarcasm coated his words in a way that made my insides burn.

"Who was that man at the theme-park tonight?"

He glanced at Axel then turned a lazy grin in my direction. "Specifically? No idea—reckon he could have passed for a Gus maybe?"

Was he joking? I clenched my jaw so hard it made my teeth hurt.

"Do you think I missed that entire conversation just now?" I stabbed a finger in the direction of the door the girl had disappeared into. "Something is going on and I need answers. If you can't tell me why you showed up tonight—why I can't go home—then I'm out of here. My Dad is going to realise I'm missing soon."

Zaphron's expression grew serious. He put down his food and rubbed a hand across his mouth, drawing breath to say something, but then thinking better of it.

"Zaph." Axel broke his concentration and gave him a hard look.

He sighed and glanced from me to Axel. Something unsaid passed between them before he looked away.

A horrible feeling was gnawing at my gut, something about Zaphron's expression when I had mentioned Dad. "This is about Dad, isn't it?" I asked, my aching throat barely squeezing out the words. "What's he done?"

Both of them stared at me, curiosity burning in their gaze.

"Why would you think he's done anything?" Zaphron said with forced disinterest.

I didn't respond. Their reaction had told me enough. If this was to do with Dad, I would take it up with him. I didn't want anything more to do with whatever these people had going on. Plus, it wasn't like I was very welcome anyway.

I rose and headed for the door.

Zaphron was blocking my path before I could take two steps. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going home—to talk to Dad," I said, pushing past him. "I'd call him, but—" I indicated to my bare eyeball—"You know."

"You can't." Zaphron held my arm for a moment and then gently let it go. "You have to trust us—it's best for now."

How could a stranger possibly know what was best for me?

I looked up at him and wished I hadn't. At such close proximity he was a bit too much. There was something in his eyes that, despite their phoney colour, conveyed something like genuine concern. The angry nerves that had been fuelling me wilted.

"You keep saying that," I replied in a whisper, "but you need to give me a reason to." Embarrassingly inconvenient tears flirted with my lower lids, ready to spill over at any moment.

His lips quirked, but before he could respond, the angry blue-haired girl appeared. "Zaphron. I need to speak to you—now."

His smile disappeared and he rolled his eyes, following her back into the room. Muffled arguing started as the door closed behind them.

I looked back at Axel; whose gaze shifted from me the moment our eyes met. It was a contrast to Zaphron, who seemed to love intense stare-offs so much it made me uncomfortable. My gaze wavered on him as I wondered if he was more likely to tell me what was going on than Zaphron was.

"I thought he was going to give me some answers," I said, testing the waters. "But I just feel more confused now than I did at the theme park."

"Zaph is convincing when he needs to be," Axel replied with a sigh. He took up Jax's empty spot at the desk, his muscular frame filling out the seat far more than the skinny boy before him. "But did he ever actually say that he was going to give you answers?"

"No... He didn't." I bit my lip. It was beginning to feel as though I had avoided one kidnapping and walked into another.

Something must have shown on my face, because Axel continued, "Look, I'm sure he's just trying to get a better grasp on the situation so he can tell you everything soon. To be honest, I don't think anyone expected for you to end up here tonight, Zaph included."

I sank back onto the sofa. "You're not the only ones."

He flashed me another of his sympathetic smiles, tucking a thick coil of hair behind his ear and turning his attention to holographic camera feeds from the club.

The door in the hall flew open and Zaphron came storming out. "I told you something was wrong. Now they're going to know I wasn't where I was supposed to be." He swore into his fist. "I have to go back and check in—they're going to have questions—"

"And what about your other responsibilities?" the girl cut in from the doorway.

Zaphron's bright blue gaze flickered to me in the lounge, uncharacteristic alarm in his eyes. "Just watch her until I get back—I won't be long." He jogged to the front door and yanked it open. We all stared after him as he left.

The girl rubbed her forehead, retreating into her room with a huff. "Axel, can I speak to you in private?" 

Axel drew his mouth into a line and got up. The moment he entered the room, frantic hushed conversation started from behind the door. 

I took a deep breath and stood, steadying my jelly legs. I was too jittery to sit around and wait for something to happen. If Zaphron was skipping out, there was really no reason to stay. I didn't know any of these people and I certainly wasn't anyone's responsibility.

The conversation between the girl and Axel grew louder. I heard my name mentioned as I crept down the hall toward the front door. Part of me wondered if I should stay and listen—maybe try to catch something from their conversation. But if there was anything I'd learned in my short stay with these people, it was that if I needed answers, I was going to have to get them myself.