Chapter 11 · Marked Registry - Chapter 11: Red Flag Countdown

The countdown's at forty-seven minutes when we find her.

She's three blocks from the tower, crouched in an alley between a shuttered pawn shop and a fried chicken place that's been closed since the protests. The smell hits first—blood and fear and something chemical, like burnt hair. Cain stops at the mouth of the alley, one hand up to keep me back, but I'm already moving.

Mia's on her knees. Her hands are human but her nails aren't, and there's a dead pigeon at her feet, torn open. She's shaking so hard her teeth rattle.

"Mia."

She doesn't look up. Just keeps staring at the pigeon like she's trying to figure out what it is.

I take another step. Cain grabs my shoulder, pulls me back hard enough that I stumble. "Don't."

"She's right there."

"She's halfway gone." His voice is flat. "You get close, she'll rip your throat out and won't even know she did it."

I yank free. "Then what, we just watch?"

He doesn't answer. He's got his badge out, the one that doubles as a tranq remote, but his thumb's not on the button yet. He's waiting.

Mia makes a sound. Not a word.