Chapter 28 · Take Him, Not Me

The transport cage slammed shut, and Kade's voice cut off mid-sentence. Mara stood there with blood on her hands—his blood—and her brother's weight against her side.

She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The mercenaries were already hauling the cage toward the loading dock, and Silas was watching her with that flat, satisfied look, like he'd just closed a deal.

"Go," Juno hissed in her ear, yanking her arm. "Mara, we have to go now."

Her brother—Eli—was shaking. Fourteen years old and he looked about ten, all knobby elbows and borrowed scrubs two sizes too big. He'd grown since the work camp took him. Grown quiet. His eyes tracked the mercenaries, the guns, the way Silas's hand rested on his sidearm.

Mara forced her legs to work. She grabbed Eli's wrist and pulled him toward the side exit Juno had cracked open, the one that led to the old maintenance shafts. Her boots hit metal grating and the sound rang too loud, but no one shot at her. Silas had what he wanted.

Kade was in that cage. Kade, who'd stepped in front of a bullet meant for Eli.