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I bundled together allthe anger and betrayal inside and set Little Dragon loose. It was the only place I felt comfortable when the world was falling apart. And for once, this defense mechanism was going to serve me well.

Up the statue I climbed, like a kid at a playground. Up to the top of Poseidon’s bedraggled hair. I was surprised to find a crack running the circumference of his neck. The plan was to deface it to draw attention, something I only struggled with for a moment, knowing it was designed by my mother but also knowing I had to do whatever I could to get back to her and save the rest of my family.

Suddenly, I had a better idea than merely defacing the sea king, and the adrenaline pumping inside made it possible.

I worked the blades inside the crack and wormed them around, loosening the head. Then I leaned back against the curve of the sea serpent, holding onto the trident’s arm, and set both feet against his face. Taking a deep breath, I pushed with all my might.

The sound of stone scraping against stone filled the emptiness of the park as the god of the ocean’s head ground across the base of his neck. A resounding crash echoed as it tumbled downward, breaking his other hand and a chunk of his leg off on the way to the ground.

I beheaded Poseidon and it felt really, really good.

I didn’t have a lot of time to revel in my badassery though. An alarm rang through the empty space, and I scurried down to the bushes as fast as I could. I needed the element of surprise if I was going to take on the robot staff, and one of my blades had snapped off while prying the head loose.

I’ll only need one, I told myself.I just hoped the adrenaline would keep flowing as long as I needed it to.

When seven robot staff members glided down the path toward the park, I nearly bolted. But a second alarm flared somewhere to the right and another from behind, just as planned. Several of the bots split off in each direction. I silently whispered thanks to Nicole for whatever she’d done to the spa and Jackson for the Mess Hall. I tried not to think too hard about the missing alarm that was supposed to come from the direction of the aquarium.

I now had two staff members left to contend with, and it was going to take all my concentration.

Wait for it. I counted slowly to ten as they reached the statue. I needed to get their attention one at a time. That could be tough. But if I could rewire our wristcoms and behead a two-ton statue, I could do that.

I set the knife down, against all instinct, and picked up two handfuls of gravel. I threw them as hard as I could in opposite directions and held my breath.

One robot scooted off toward the left and the other crept around to the right. The one on the right was closer, so I collected my remaining knife and slipped the blade into the back of its neck before it registered my presence.

“Gotcha!” I said. I yanked the weapon from the material and sparks followed, along with a popping and hissing sound. But by the time I turned around, the other one was on its way over, weapon drawn. So much for the element of surprise.

“I surrender,” I said, raising my hands into the air.

“The statistical analysis of your behavior patterns indicates your surrender is impossible. I must incapacitate you.” The robot raised the weapon, and I recalled with vivid clarity the feeling of being touched by the tip.

Good thing we’d talked through different scenarios when we came up with this plan. I took one last look at the blue electricity and fell limp on the grass.

Trying to keep my breathing slow and even, I strained for a mental picture of where the thing was, but I couldn’t risk opening my eyes until the right moment. I’d only get one shot.

A shadow blocked the light from inside my eyelids, and I knew the robot stood over me. I banked on it having to test my vitals before making any further decisions about what to do with me. Silently, I counted to five and popped my eyes open, springing up with the knife held high.

Travis caught my wrist before I could sink it into his neck, a bemused expression on his face. The robot slumped on the walkway near where I last saw it.

“I could have handled that,” I said, wrenching my wrist away.

“Obviously. You almost decapitated me with a steak knife.” Travis grinned, and the corner of his mouth cracked as he winced in pain. A trickle of blood sprang out, and he wiped at it with his sleeve.

“What happened?” I asked, stretching to see if I could find Mason behind him.

“Prince Charming happened. We got all the way to the aquarium and he went psycho on me. We broke open one of the tanks, and he tried to pin me there with a rock so I’d get caught. I barely got away before the staff members showed up.” He kicked at the grass.

“Why would he do that?” I asked, trying to suppress the panic as the details of Travis’s records scrolled through my head.

“I don’t know. Ask him. Maybe he’s the killer. Maybe he hates me because I told you about my sister.” Travis shrugged, muscles taught. “Maybe you should listen to me and dump the Bennets so we can survive this place.”

My wristcom beeped. When I looked down, I saw it was Mason. “Hell…hello?” I said, unsure if I should even have answered it and risked pissing off Travis any more.

What if Mason found out about Travis being the other DSI sufferer too? What if he thought he was protecting all of us by trying to trap him?

Mason’s breathless voice punctuated the static that swam across my wristcom. Something was interfering with the signal. “Warn…Travis…trapped…support.”