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Aiden struggled to pin Elodie’s arms to the armrests as she thrashed and clawed the air.

“Get up!” Elodie screamed and kicked out.

Sparkman’s reddish blond braid whipped the air as her attention bounced between the numerous monitors that served as their unit’s main control center.

The saccharine scent of honeysuckles drifting in from the warehouse soured Aiden’s stomach. There shouldn’t be anything sweet about what was playing out in front of Elodie and on the screen just behind Aiden’s head.

“Astrid! Get up!” she yelled. Tears spilled from Elodie’s eyes and dotted her shirt with some of the only real-life evidence of the horror that had occurred.

Besides Astrid’s lifeless body at home in her own VR setup, there was nothing except Elodie’s tears to show that the murder ever occurred. And when questions were asked . . . Well, the Key had a way of turning fact into fiction.

Anguish twisted Elodie’s features and Aiden blinked back the mist forming in his eyes. He turned his attention to Sparkman. “We have to get her out!”

Sparkman’s fingertips hammered against the control panel. “Tech deleted her profile from the main servers. She’ll be back in the real any minute.”

Aiden swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Sparkman, I’m lucky you were here.”

For a moment, Elodie stilled beneath Aiden’s hands. Then, like she’d been struck by lightning, she jerked and exploded up from the chair. She ripped her VR headset off and threw it to the ground.

Aiden’s heart squeezed. He knew better than anyone that there was no way to bring back the dead.

Elodie swiped her hand against her cheek. “She’s gone!” It trembled as she studied her palm. “Astrid’s dead.” She offered her shaking hand as evidence. “There’s no blood. No nothing. It’s like it never happened.” Elodie doubled over. Her sobs shook her so hard Aiden worried she’d splinter into pieces.

He crouched and cupped her face in his hands. “It doesn’t feel like it now,” he breathed, “but you will get through this.” He’d said the same words to himself thousands of times over, but it wasn’t until Elodie that he’d known that through was an actual destination, a reward after suffering, as opposed to a constant state of being.

Sparkman cleared her throat. A gentle signal that the world kept spinning even in the midst of tragedy. “You’ll need to get through sooner than later. Tech informed me that those soldiers scanned her. They know our location. This place will be crawling with Key Corp troops in no time.”

Aiden helped Elodie to her feet. “They can’t scan people in VR.”

Elodie let out a final trembling sob before speaking. “The Key can’t kill someone in VR either.”

Sparkman’s strawberry blond brows arched. “The Corporation seems to be learning new tricks all the time.” She cracked her knuckles and turned back to the bank of holoscreens. “I’ve given the order. Tech is powering us down and activating the light bath. We don’t want to leave behind any fingerprints or genetic material they could use to track the rest of us.” The image on two of the holoscreens pixilated before going completely black. “We need to move.”

Aiden grabbed Elodie’s hand and they followed Sparkman out of the office, running across concrete through the curtains onto moist earth, and into the light of the grow lamps and the rows and rows of plants. He ignored the thoughts writhing within him. All the living things in this building would die. The Key would make sure of it. He swallowed and tightened his grasp on Elodie. He had to make sure they were far, far away.

Another crack of her knuckles as Sparkman turned and sped through a patch of budding tomato plants. “We’ll try to make it to the tunnels, but if anyone is arrested, we’ll need an alternate plan. I’ll send out a truck. It’ll make one pass through this district at exactly twenty-three thirty. The Key soldiers will have cleared out by then. Protocol dictates that they immediately confiscate all technology.” Her braid slid off her shoulder as she motioned back the way they’d come. “They’ll return at first light to collect living specimens. They’ll know what we know—this place is cutoff, worthless to us. We just have to make it worthless to them too.”

They were fifty yards away from the hatch. Fifty yards away from the black depths of the tunnels that he’d been trained to navigate with his eyes closed. After all, that was how Eos operated—in the dark.

“Tech will also contact Echo.” Sparkman continued. “The next—”

Aiden stopped so sharply, he jerked Elodie backward. “They can’t notify Echo!” The idea that Eos would bring in Echo hardened his feet into anvils.

Sparkman’s brisk pace widened the space between them as she neared the hidden hatch to the underground tunnels. “She’s in charge of this region. More than that, she needs to know what’s taking place. We have our own protocols that we must adhere to in order to survive.” She reached her destination and brushed back the thick curtain that lined the walls of the warehouse.

Aiden shook his head. “But—”

“Aiden, there’s no debate here. I do as I see fit and you follow. Especially now, when we are all in danger.” The hatch beeped as Sparkman keyed in her entry code.

Elodie squeezed his hand. “We have to go. What those soldiers did to Astrid . . .” her chest heaved. “We can’t be here when they get here.”

Sparkman and Elodie were right. He would have to deal with Echo later.

A loud boom shook the warehouse. The lights flickered as another sounded. Aiden and Elodie bolted after Sparkman and toward the open hatch that promised safety. The sharp whine of caving metal forced Aiden’s hands over his ears. His heartbeat raced inside his throat. He’d stopped and it had held Elodie back from reaching sanctuary.

He waved his arms, motioning for Sparkman to continue into the tunnel. “They didn’t come for you!” he shouted.

Sparkman’s chin lifted and her stance widened. “I won’t leave anyone behind.”

A root snagged the toe of Aiden’s boot and he crashed against the dirt floor.

Another boom. Another flicker of lights overhead. Another screech of metal. And then something new behind them—marching, voices.

Elodie crouched next to him. Her red-rimmed and swollen eyes frantically swung from the front door to Aiden before settling on Sparkman.

“Go!” Aiden shouted, “We need you on the outside, not in handcuffs before the Council.”

Sparkman nodded stiffly and pressed her fist against her chest. “After the storm comes the dawn!”

The hatch creaked closed and the velvet drapes fell back into place. Sparkman was gone.

The front curtains opened and a wave of gun-toting Key Corp red burst through. This was it. He’d known this day would eventually come, but he’d never imagined there’d be anyone by his side when it did. Aiden rose to his feet as the sea parted and a single officer marched forward.

Elodie shuddered and let out a strangled wheeze as the man removed his helmet and tucked it under his arm.

“So, I’m sent to find my fiancée in a fucking Eos stronghold.” Rhett eyed Aiden for a moment before puffing up like a toad. “And with Aiden Scott. I’m sure your sister will just love that I found you here.” He turned his attention back to Elodie. “Nice job making new friends, El.” Rhett set his wide jaw and flicked his chin in the air. “Arrest them.”

The soldiers overtook Aiden and Elodie. With sharp commands and prodding guns, the soldiers forced them to their knees. Aiden’s jaw ticked and his chest tightened as handcuffs were bound around their wrists, complete with one lead rope for each of them. Air fled his lungs as he watched Elodie cower away from each rifle jab. Her hands quaked. Her eyes gleamed with tears. Her lips parted around panicked gasps for breath. He’d led her down this path, led her to a river of truths, but this was too much too fast. This was drowning.

A soldier jerked her to her feet. She let out a sharp howl of pain, but clamped her mouth closed just as quickly and tripped along the path toward the door.

Aiden couldn’t watch her anymore, not while he was shackled and pulled from his favorite place on earth. He was useless. Just like he’d been a decade ago . . .

Rhett’s white blond hair caught his attention and Aiden fixed his gaze, his fears, his rage on the Major. “What does my sister have to do with this?” Aiden grunted as he strained against his handcuffs and the soldier pulling him closer to the exit.

Rhett’s lips thinned and stretched, wormlike, into a smirk. “You’ll see soon enough.”

The handcuffs bit into Aiden’s wrists but he held his ground. “Tell me now!”

A dry laugh burst from Rhett’s throat as he turned his back to Aiden and barked more orders at his sea of red-clad commandos.

Pain shot through Aiden’s hands and he stumbled forward into black velvet curtains. His eyes burned, but he wouldn’t let himself cry. Tears had never saved him. Another swift jerk of the leash and he was through the soft black. The curtains whooshed closed behind him as he was yanked from Wonderland.