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He sets off in the direction he indicated earlier—north—without letting go of me. I manage a small, grateful smile and get a long, steadying look in return. My heart is thundering in my ears and I feel so hyped up on adrenaline that his grip is the only thing grounding me, and I think he knows it.
“We looked up here earlier, but we’re gonna go again now that you’re here,” he tells me as we make our way down the street.
I nod, scared to get my hopes up but doing it anyway, because Maddoc’s right. Even though there’s no way Chloe could know about her inheritance yet, she knows enough to have stayed off the radar this long and to realize she’s in danger out here. She also thinks a big part of that danger is the Reapers themselves, based on the shit that went down when she ran.
So she’ll be hiding—hiding or running—especially if she sees the Reapers coming after her before she realizes that I’m here too.
We peer into alleys and check behind, under, and inside dozens of potential hiding spots that I hate picturing my little sister huddled in. I push those worries aside and focus, because that’s exactly why we’re here. So shedoesn’thave to hide anymore.
“Chloe?” I call out softly as we veer into yet another narrow, dank alley. “It’s me. It’s safe to come out.”
There’s no response and no sign of her, but I refuse to think that we got here too late.
I shake Maddoc’s hand off and stomp to the end of the chain link fence blocking off the end of the alley, lacing my fingers through the rusty metal as I stare through it.
“Would she have gone over?” Maddoc murmurs, coming up behind me.
I blink, then shake my head. “No. Not unless she had to.”
“No one was chasing her,” Maddoc says. “It was just a sighting. Come on.”
He tries to pull me back the other way, but doubt creeps in and turns my feet to lead. “What if I’m wrong?”
Maddoc gives me a small smile. “Then Kieran will catch sight of her. I had him circle around that way before you got here.”
I nod jerkily and let him lead me out of the alley.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” he says as we reach the end of the block. “We’ve got a lot of bodies out here, but you’re the only one she’s really gonna trust.”
I nod again, then freeze.
“Chloe?” I whisper, pointing at a figure in the distance. One too far away to really make out much detail about, and wearing clothes I don’t recognize—dark wash jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, head down and a baseball hat pulled low—but one that Irecognize.
It’s my sister. I know it is. I don’t need to see her face to recognize the way she moves. It’s her.
“Chloe.” I yell it this time, breaking into a sprint, but she’s too far away and doesn’t seem to hear me. Or maybe she just can’t, not over the sound of an engine suddenly revving, loud enough that I can hear it from here as a sleek black van with tinted windows suddenly barrels out of a side street right next to her.
For a split second, Chloe freezes. Then she pivots and bolts in the opposite direction from the van, moving even farther away from me and Maddoc.
The van follows, and Maddoc is suddenly right next to me, grabbing my arm again. “Fuck,” he spits out, racing next to me as we try to close the distance. “That’s West Point.”
Two muscle-bound goons tumble out of the still-moving van and grab Chloe, bringing my worst nightmares to life.
“No,” I scream, my heart lurching as she struggles against them. “Chloe.”
I don’t remember shaking Maddoc off, but I’m running flat out and with single-minded determination as they drag her into the van.
It’s not enough. The door slams closed, and I don’t even know if she heard me; if she knew I was here for her.
One of the blacked-out windows rolls down as the van peels away, proving that those fucking West Point goons heard, though.
“No, god, fuck, no,you can’t have her.”
My feet pound against the pavement as I race after them, every step jolting through my entire body. My vision narrows until nothing else exists but the black metal beast taking her away from me and the West Point monsters inside it.
Then the barrel of a gun appears in the window that came down, and the muzzle flares with bright fire as the staccato thunder of gunshots echoes down the narrow street.
Maddoc tackles me, shoving me into an alley and out of the way of the bullets, and I beat at his chest with blind fury as the van skids around a corner and disappears, taking my sister with it.
