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Cael turned to me. “No one’s out there.”

“Then they know we’re coming and they’re hiding.” He shook his head. I put a hand on Wes’s shoulder and said, “Something’s not right.”

His eyes narrowed. “I know. They’ve got to be watching us and waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” Devon asked.

Pippa brought her hand to her forehead. “Maybe they’re on vacation. Today’s a government holiday.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Grow up, Pippa.”

Ibram said, “Wes, why don’t you, me, and Iggy go check it out? Val, come with me. The rest of you stay here until we let you know it’s all clear.”

“I’m going too,” Cael said, which made me roll my eyes and scoot past him to see outside.

Val crept up to stand next to Ibram as Brodie complained, “Why you three? I’m deadlier than you, Ibram.”

“Last week I set four rats and a hamster on fire.” Ibram snapped. “But the point is, we need someone deadly to hang back in case a guard or staff member comes into the tunnel.”

“I thought we weren’t going to kill anyone.” Pippa shuffled from foot to foot with her hands planted on her hips.

Alex responded, “Better them than us.”

“Listen up, people,” I whisper-yelled. “Cael, you’re staying because you don’t have any power. Wes, go left out of the tunnel. I’ll take the right. Ibram, work your way toward the guard shack out there. Everyone else stay here.”

“Who put you in charge?” Alex huffed.

“I did…when I got us out of there.”

Wes leaned into me and whispered in my ear, “Iggy. You’ve just now stopped bleeding. You shouldn’t use right now. Give yourself a rest.”

I bristled and stepped back, feeling awkward with Wes being so close. But I wasn’t so stubborn that I couldn’t admit I was drained and in pain. “Fine. Brodie, looks like you’re going out after all.” He stepped up beside Ibram and Wes, then Wes gave a signal, and they took off. I wrapped my arms around myself, beginning to shiver more. Cael enveloped me in a hug and I leaned into him, not just for the warmth, but also for the comfort. I was beginning to question everything I’d been doing since I woke up today.

Why had I just declared myself to be in charge? Not long ago, I knocked all these people unconscious by suffocating them. Why weren’t they beating me to a pulp instead of standing around whispering? And after attacking them, I encouraged them to escape when I had no idea where we were or where to go; we had no food and no warm clothing. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. Was I just going to invite them back to my farm? Show up on my folks’ doorstep and announce that I was having a big slumber party? Hell, we might not even make it out of this tunnel. What if Wesley, Ibram, Brodie, and Val got shot while facing off with guards? I didn’t think Jensen would allow our deaths, but if the guards had guns with bullets instead of tranq darts, then death was always a possibility.

Cael’s warm breath was on my ear as he whispered, “Iggy, I can tell you’re laying a guilt trip on yourself.” His arms tightened around me. “Please concentrate on staying safe and getting us out of here. I’m counting on you.”

A corner of my mouth pulled up. “You’re counting on
me
? I thought guys were always the macho ones who had to save the girl.”

“Yeah, well, my girlfriend is a badass superhero who doesn’t take shit from anybody. Not to mention she’s totally hot and I’m crazy in love with her.”

I grinned and kissed him. Then I whispered back, “I don’t feel very badass when you can make me melt like a Popsicle with just a few words.”

Cael chuckled and tucked some hair behind my ear before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine, making me forget everything going on around us.

Until Alex groaned and said, “You two are un-fucking believable. We’re in the middle of an escape, our friends are risking their lives out there, and you two are making out.”

I turned and said, “
Our
friends? I wasn’t aware you had any friends, Alex.”

Devon stepped in between us. “God, will you two cut it out? Can’t you go a half hour without trying to claw each other’s eyes out?”

Alex took a step toward him. “Keep your mouth shut Devon, or it’ll be
your
eyes I’m clawing out.”

Then all the others chimed in and everyone but Cael started arguing. A few minutes later, Ibram’s deep voice interrupted us. “Damn! We can hear you guys arguing from the guard shack. Thank god no one’s around. You all sound like a bunch of first graders on a playground arguing over crayons or some shit. What is the problem?”

I started to reply, but then I saw Wesley spearing me with an accusing glare and I ground my teeth together instead. It was obvious that he blamed this on me. Of course he did. He’d always told me I was hot-headed and impulsive. But he didn’t have the right to judge when he hadn’t been around to hear Alex open her mouth.

I focused on the most important words I’d heard and asked loudly so everyone’s attention would be drawn, “There’s no one out there? No guards at all? No staff?”

Val said, “It’s crazy, but no. We didn’t see anyone.”

“Maybe you didn’t look hard enough,” Alex told them.

Wesley folded his arms across his chest. “There aren’t many places they could hide. We’re at the side of a mountain with a sheer cliff and only one road in. Trust me, we looked hard enough.”

“So, are we leaving?” Krish asked.

Alex said, “We have no supplies. No coats. Where are we even going?”

Several people started arguing about where to go given that Jensen could just have them all picked up again. Then that discussion led to another argument about escape being futile. When I heard that, I threw my hands up in the air and stomped out. To hell with them. I hadn’t seen sunlight in two months, and I wasn’t going to stand around in some cave with a bunch of people who couldn’t make up their minds.

I squinted and glanced around to see if any guards had shown up, then I tipped my face up and closed my eyes. I might feel like I was freezing, but enduring the temperature was worth having the sun on my face. I could feel its warmth. I heard birds chirping in the distant trees. A cold breeze blew my hair into my face, but even that felt great. Then a noise close by startled me and my eyes snapped open.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Wesley said.

I looked past him. “Are they still arguing?”

“Yep.”

“Where’s Cael?”

Wesley’s lip pressed into a thin line. “Why? Can’t you go two minutes without him?”

I rolled my eyes. “I just meant that—”

He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “I told him I wanted to talk to you alone.”

“Oh.” I held one hand to my forehead to shade my eyes so I could see him better. I hated that I kept thinking about him and Alex in the bathroom. “What do you want to talk about?”

“The crazy idea you’ve got in your head.”

I frowned. “What crazy idea?”

“I know you, Iggy. You’re going to suggest they all come with us back to the farm.”

“And that’s crazy?”

“You know it is.” At my pointed look, Wes sighed loudly. “Your parents don’t have the supplies to take care of all these additional people. Not to mention Jensen or the FBI would probably come to the farm with guns blazing. In fact, with all of us at your parents’ place, I guarantee he’ll come. And he won’t
ask
if we want to come back.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “On top of that, something is wrong about this whole situation.”

I nodded. “It’s way too easy.”

“Jensen is a brilliant scientist working with a team of brilliant people. Not having guards around is so stupid that it’s obviously part of a plan.”

“He might as well have written us a note telling us he was letting us go.”

“And I’m wondering why.”

“And I bet you’re also debating on whether or not to leave these guys behind.” I knew Wesley. He wasn’t friendly or generous or a martyr.

He nodded. “I think it’s best. Having us all in one place is too convenient for Jensen anyway.”

“What about Alex?”

Wesley’s eyes narrowed. “What about her?”

“If we split off from the others, are you going to ask her to come with us?”

“What kind of a stupid question is that?”

I put my hands up defensively. “She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Wes thrust his hands into his hair and stomped around in circle, mumbling to himself. “You are the most frustrating woman,” he hissed after pausing to stare down at me. “Will you stop acting like such a…a
girl
!”

“Newsflash, Blondie. I’m not acting. I
am
a girl!” I pointed an index finger at him. “Furthermore, if she’s coming, you and I are not traveling together. And I’ll be damned if you’re going to bring her to my house but not bring the others.”

He pointed back at me. “Do
not
call me Blondie. And no, I never even considered asking Alex.”

“Asking me what?”

I looked past Wesley’s shoulder to find Alex marching toward us. “This is a private conversation.”

“Not when it’s about me.”

Cael was close behind her, followed by everyone else. They ended up forming a semi-circle around me and Wes, which immediately put me on the defensive. My boyfriend said, “What’s the plan, guys? I assume you have one after chatting it up out here.”

Pippa’s hand fluttered across her chest. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Not stand here,” Wesley snapped and headed off down the dirt road that led away the mountain.

“Come on guys. We can talk about it on the way.” I motioned for them to follow me as I set off behind Wesley.

“Just wait a damn minute!” Alex yelled.

“Why?” Brodie called back, running to catch up with me. “So we can wait for Jensen’s staff to come back? I’m with
them
.”

Cael jogged up to my right side. “We going to the farm?”

I nodded, unsure whether or not to bring up the idea of going without everyone else. Up ahead, I noticed Wesley was heading into the woods that bordered the road. “Where are you going?” I called out.

“I don’t think we should be walking right out here on the road where they’ll all see us if they drive up.”

I veered off to follow him, and then I glanced behind me. Though everyone was following, they wore expressions that ranged from worried to pissed off.

Pippa said, “Iggy. Where exactly are we headed?”

“First, we need to find the nearest town and steal some supplies. Then, I’m going to the only place I feel comfortable at — home. You all are welcome to come with me.” I was right behind Wes, and I saw his back stiffen. He whacked at a branch in his path. After he’d passed, the branch whipped back and nearly smacked me in the face. “I live on a farm. We’ve got enough food and supplies to last a while.” I glanced over at Cael and found him giving me a sympathetic smile. He agreed with my plan.

“But…but I want to go home,” Krish whined. “I miss my family.”

“Me too,” Pippa agreed.

The low mumbling rose to an annoying chatter. “Look, you guys can do whatever you want,” I told them. “We all miss our families. I’m just offering an option.”

Ibram said, “We should all stick together until we hit town and get supplies. Then we can split up.”

“I’ve got nowhere to go,” Val said. “Iggy, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go with you.”

I tossed her a smile. “No problem.”

“Same here,” Brodie said.

Two people
, I thought. We could handle a couple of extra people at my farm. I looked at Cael to say something, but he was staring at the ground. He was an open book, and I could tell exactly what he was thinking. We were all talking about going home to our families, but he still had no idea what had happened to his parents. I put a hand on his back and he looked down at me. “We haven’t given up, Cael. When we get back, we can do some digging and come up with a plan to find them.” He didn’t respond; rather, he pulled ahead of me and pushed his way through the forest as if he was late for a class.

People quieted down and concentrated on moving. We walked for a couple of hours, following the road but keeping hidden in the woods. No cars ever came, and the forest thinned out at the edge of a small desert. Instead of stepping out of the woods, Wes and Cael stood behind a tree and peered around the trunk to study the scenery. I stopped beside them and rested my hand on a tree trunk. “Not many places to hide out there.”

The dry, gray-brown landscape was dotted with squat, scraggly scrub brush and tufts of dead grass. Beyond the desert was another mountain that looked as if not a single tree grew on it. “We should move left, well away from the road. Then we can cross.” At their sour expressions, I added, “On the bright side, all this hiking is keeping us nice and warm.” Neither of them responded or even looked at me. “Okay, then. Well, let’s get a move on.” I stepped past them and felt a hand curl around my bicep.