Chapter 25 · Target Zero

The stairwell smells like rust and sweat. My shoulder hits the concrete wall when I take the corner too fast. Someone's boots hammer down three flights above me.

Not just one person. Five. Maybe six.

I don't stop to count.

The Core Zone alarm is still shrieking. Red emergency lights turn everything the color of old blood. Cain bought me maybe two minutes with that jammer stunt before the whole school knew exactly where I was.

Two minutes.

Now every hunter in Ironridge is coming for the Pretty Prey bounty. And I'm it.

I burst through the stairwell door into the east wing. The hallway stretches long and empty. Too empty. My instincts scream trap but I'm out of options. I run.

Footsteps explode from the stairwell behind me. Voices.

"She went east!"

"How much for a clean capture?"

"Doesn't matter. Crowe said double if we get her before Locke does."

Lila. Of course Lila's putting bounties on top of bounties.

I duck into a side corridor. My lungs are burning. I've been running for ten minutes straight and my legs are starting to shake. Can't stop.