Kano grabs Theo by his backpack and makes him sit. “There will be no rash decisions.”
Like Ava’s rash decision last night? No, this is different. I’ve thought this through. Ava didn’t.
“Unless our benefactor here has a helicopter on standby that I’m unaware of . . . ,” Kano says, jolting me back, prompting all our necks to turn toward Ciro for the first time in hours.
Ciro sits sunken at the head of the table, his face buried in his trembling hands. On our desperate trek to the safe house, with every mile, more and more of his spunk and superiority drained from his jaunty spirit. Fear has its claws in him.
Buck up, I want to yell at him. You offered yourself up to this.
Almost imperceptibly, Ciro shakes his head.
“Didn’t think so,” Kano continues. “And unless Ciro’s money can buy us all wings . . .”—Ciro doesn’t even respond to this jab—“then we are staying put.”
“We’re staying,” Alexander has the gall to reiterate.
I did what I was told for eighteen years of my life. No more.
I stand on the tips of my toes, getting as close to Alexander’s face as I can. He shifts, uncomfortable with our nearness, but I won’t let him turn away. I bet he can feel my pain, my strength of will. I can hear his alarm, sense his panic. I won’t let it spread to me. Or Theo. Theo can’t second-guess what he’s doing; he needs to be prepared for what’s to come. He needs to believe our plan is possible.
I need him to stay on my side.
My eyes narrow into slits, and I glare daggers into Alexander’s black, rayless eyes. “I’m not scared of your father,” I tell him, willing my voice not to falter.
“I’m not so sure,” Alexander whispers so only I can hear. “Fear is healthy, Mira. Fear keeps you alive.”
“You’d like to keep me scared, wouldn’t you?”
Alexander’s lips twist into a sour grimace. I turn away, unable to look at him any longer.
“Take away his soldiers and toys, and the governor’s just like you or me,” I snap back, loud enough for Theo and Ciro to hear. “Flesh and bone and vulnerable.”
“Yes, but you have to get through his soldiers and armaments before you reach the mortal man,” Alexander presses.
Arguing is useless. Words are useless. Actions are all that matter.
I head back to the window, looking to plot the best escape route. Theo joins me, the straps of his pack fastened over his chest like he’s ready to go at my command.
“This is complete crap; we need to move,” Theo whispers hotly. The way he stares at me warms my cold fear.
We can do this. We just have to get out of this house. I mentally list all the supplies in my bag, calculating if it’s enough to last us until Dallas.
“Did you pack a weapon?” I ask under my breath. Ciro’s watching. They’re all watching.
“No,” he says, embarrassed. “I didn’t have something like that to bring.”
Why would he? His life didn’t require a blade until now.
Dipping my hand into my pocket, I grip my trusted knife and hand it to Theo. “My father gave me this. Take it,” I whisper. “You’ll need it.”
Startled, Theo grabs it, shielding the offering from the others with his body. He slides his fingers through the four rings of the knife’s handle. It’s a bit small, but it will do.
“Thank you,” he says softly. “What will you use?”
Swinging my rucksack over my stomach, I dig to the bottom and pull out the weapon I’ve avoided using since I last squeezed the trigger. I secure the handgun, fixed within its plastic holster, inside my waistband and stare out at the road.
“Do you know how to use it?” Theo asks, nodding toward where I hid the government-issued pistol beneath the double layers of my shirt and jacket.
“Yes” is all I say. I killed your brother’s agent with it.
“Hey look,” Theo says, pushing aside the curtain. A winsome smile stretches his cracked lips as he points up at the dreary sky. “A hummingbird.”
Dread fills my heart. For a second it stops beating. “Kano, get out the antidrone spray!” I shout as a precaution. “Neutralize the room!”
Alexander peels himself away from the door. “Do you see something?”
I slam my forehead against the glass, my eyes scouring the clouds, the trees, the overgrown weeds. Where are you? What are you?
“It’s just a bird,” Theo says, confused. “There!”
His finger tracks the upward ascent of a shiny green bird, its wings fluttering so fast it appears to be levitating. It rises higher and higher, vanishing into the haze. For a moment I allow myself to think it’s gone. That it was nothing.
But then I hear it. The shrill whistle of tail feathers as the hummingbird dive-bombs the house at g-force speed.
“Scent Hunter!” I manage to scream before my throat closes. I suddenly can’t breathe.
That is what took down Ava.
“Use my Scent Cloaks!” Ciro cries out, springing into action. He throws me a lightweight bag, and I rip open the draw-cord closure and tear out the cloak.
Theo grabs one end; I grab the other. We conceal ourselves beneath the thin, transparent shroud, and I stand stock-still.
“Don’t move,” I say through stiff lips. The more I move, the more I leave a trail for the Scent Hunter to sniff out.
The whirling whiz of the hummingbird’s wings reaches us from the other room. It must have come through a tiny hole in the house. It wouldn’t take much—the thing’s palm-sized.
“Stay calm, Theo. It doesn’t know your scent,” Alexander assures his son under his own Scent Cloak. He squats ten yards away, huddled with Kano.
Even if it somehow does, it’s here for me.
“Can it hear us?” Theo whispers.
“No, it can only smell us,” I say. Slowly, carefully, I reach for my gun.
“It’s here,” Ciro whispers behind me, tucked under the table, enveloped in his sheer golden blanket.
Beyond the see-through material of my cloak, I spy the drone dart into the room; then I lose sight of it. It’s too fast.
I blink, and it’s above us. The hummingbird dives, its long, needlelike beak sucking in the smell of the cloak atop my head.
Theo whispers so low I can’t hear his words. The tireless, vibrating flutter of the drone’s wings drowns everything out.
A cold sweat drips down my arms. I curl my finger around the gun’s trigger. I’ll only get one shot. It’s too fast.
The bird releases a piercing trill and plunges for the floor.
I scarcely register Theo scream. “It’s in the cloak! Shoot!”
A blur flashes toward me. A blur with red, beady eyes. I fire two rapid shots, and the blur drops to my feet. Its tiny body disabled, decapitated by my bullet, I kick the ruined drone across the room.
Theo yanks the cloak off our bodies, and a rush of fresh air fills my lungs. I lower my gun, realizing Kano’s shaking me. “Did it shoot out a tranq? Did it get you?”
With gentle hands, Theo checks my neck and chest for any sign of wounds. “Mira, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I insist, but he goes on searching anyway.
Ciro shuffles across the hardwood floor, gathering everyone’s cloaks. He mutters intently to himself, “We’re fine. We’re fine. We’re fine.”