Thornhill

Serena had given up.

An image of Tess filled my head as I struggled to my feet.

We couldn’t give up. I wasn’t giving up.

I made it across the room and began running my fingers along the edge of the door. There had to be a hinge or a gap. Anything. Kyle and Serena had tried brute force, but there had to be some other way out. Tears streamed down my face. I could barely breathe, but after a minute, my fingers found part of a hinge and the notch in a screw.

“Screwdriver,” I choked out. “What could we use as a screwdriver?”

Before anyone could answer, there was a screech of metal and then smoke-filtered light poured into the room from the hall. A voice that was almost-familiar-but-not rasped, “Come on.”

I wiped a hand across my eyes and squinted into the haze. Eve. Her long red hair was a mass of knots and her jacket was ripped at the shoulder. Smudges of dirt and ash dotted her face.

“What’s going on? What happened?” My throat was raw and it took me two tries to get the words out as I stepped into the hall, the others behind me.

“A raid. Trackers.” Eve threw a glare back at Jason before heading down the corridor, trusting us to follow. “There are dozens of them downstairs.”

The smoke thinned and my lungs and head cleared. “Where’s Hank?”

Eve pulled open another door, revealing a barely lit stairwell. “He went to check on that wolf and hasn’t come back.” Her voice was thick and constricted.

Shouts echoed at the other end of the hall. Eve grabbed my arm and flung me at the stairs. I barely avoided dashing my brains out against the wall. “Go! Don’t stop until you reach the top floor!”

“Up?” I spun and stared at her. “The building’s on fire and you expect us to go up?”

“There’s an escape route on the top floor. A ladder.” She grabbed my shoulder and half shoved, half turned me back to the stairs.

“I trust her,” said Kyle. “Go!”

Figuring we had no choice, I ran, taking the steps as fast as I could, glancing back once to make sure everyone was behind me.

My sneakers slapped the third-floor landing just as a door below flew open.

“We’ve got a group on the back stairs,” yelled a rough voice.

Trackers.

Now we really had no choice but to keep going up.

There was a noise like a tin can fired out of a cannon, and it was followed by a burst of light so bright that I instinctively looked over my shoulder.

Kyle pushed past Jason and Serena and grabbed my hand. “Tear gas.” His grip was slick in mine as he urged me to move faster. There was a second rattle and flash—so much closer—and then a caustic smell that stripped my throat and nose when I inhaled. I tried desperately to hold my breath as we ran the last few steps to the fourth floor.

We stumbled into a cavernous space that was filled with dozens of large, industrial machines. Moonlight streamed through a wall of broken windows, and when I glanced up, I saw gaping holes in the roof.

Serena and Jason came crashing out of the stairwell.

Serena’s eyes were red-rimmed and she was supporting Jason with one arm. Face shining with tears and sweat, he leaned away from her and vomited. Eve tumbled after them a moment later, retching as she hauled off her powder-caked jacket and dropped it to the floor.

Eyes and nose streaming, Eve staggered past us and headed for the far side of the room. She thrust aside a plastic tarp revealing a wall so covered in graffiti that it looked like a living organism.

She ran her hand over a patch of blue paint as we approached. Her fingers closed on a metal loop that had been all but invisible, and arms shaking, she hauled out a section of wall.

I peered over her shoulder and into a passageway that was little more than a crawl space.

“It leads to a fire escape.” Eve stepped away from the entrance and turned. “It’ll let you out on the south side of the building.”

The space was less than a foot and a half wide. It was so narrow that you’d have to walk sideways and anyone taller than me would have to stoop. Complete blackness fell a few paces from the opening. Once the wall was closed, you’d be blind. I stared into the darkness and imagined being roasted alive as fire consumed the building.

“I’ll try my luck with the Trackers,” said Serena, voice shaky.

“We don’t have time for this,” snapped Eve. “The fire is on the other side of the building. The three of you have time to get out if you go now.”

She glared and the look on her face reminded me of my father.

“I’m going to regret this,” muttered Serena as she eased into the passage.

I hesitated as Eve’s words sank in. “Three?”

“Curtis isn’t here, and I don’t know how many people the Trackers have nabbed.” In a blur, she grabbed Jason’s arm. Her eyes locked on mine. “I got you out for Curtis, but the Tracker stays.”

“Eve, he didn’t have anything to do with this.” Kyle’s torso shone with sweat and the muscles in his shoulders and arms were so tense it looked as though he had iron under his skin. “Even if he had wanted to tell the Trackers about the club, there wasn’t any way to reach them without our phones.”

Eve’s gray-green eyes flashed. “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, he’s leverage.” She stared at Kyle like she was willing him to understand. “All of my friends are down there. Everyone I know.”

“If you think we’re letting you take him, you’re crazy.” I took a step toward her, but Jason shook his head.

“I’ll be all right, Mac.” With his free hand, he reached up and yanked on his torn shirt, ripping it even farther so that there was no way the black brand on his neck could be missed. “Enough Trackers saw me last night that someone will recognize me.”

“Jason . . . No. Absolutely not.”

He turned to Kyle. “Make sure she gets out.” His gaze flickered to Serena, just visible in the opening to the passage. “Both of them.”

Kyle nodded and grabbed my arm. I struggled but couldn’t break his grip. “Kyle! No!”

With his werewolf strength, it was entirely too easy for him to shove me into the passage behind Serena. “We can’t just leave Jason!”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a quarter heartbeat. “I’m not,” he said before slamming the door.

The darkness was absolute.

The walls pressed against me. For a second, I couldn’t breathe, and then I threw myself against the door. It didn’t budge. There was no release from this side. “Kyle! Kyle, open the door!”

Serena’s hand clamped over my mouth. Her skin smelled like smoke and a sharper, stomach-churning scent that was probably the tear gas.

There was a crash followed by shouting on the other side of the door.

A thud shook the wall and someone screamed. It sounded horribly like Jason.

Serena pressed her mouth to my ear. “If we can find the exit, maybe we can loop back and help them.”

As quickly as we could—which wasn’t quickly at all since we could only move sideways and I couldn’t see— we made our way down the passage.

There was a sudden grinding sound behind us and I glanced back as a triangle of light pierced the darkness.

“Go! I’ll be right behind you!” I pushed Serena. She was faster than I was. She could get away even if I were caught.

In response, she grabbed my hand. Holding it in a death grip, she hauled me through the rest of the passage.

Fresh air hit my face as the walls unexpectedly fell away. I stumbled forward and only Serena’s grip kept me from hurtling off the narrow metal platform at the top of the fire escape.