I take in the sight ahead.
Bia stands in the center, arms folded. Her expression is hard, her mouth set as she stares ahead, refusing to look at me directly. I swallow, but my throat is dry. Jas stands beside her, weapon in hand. Charlie rubs his arms as his confused gaze meets mine. Behind them several others stare accusingly in my direction. I scan the space. Those working on screens around the room keep looking over their shoulders at us to watch.
My legs quiver as my mind scrambles for what to say and do. There’s movement on the edge of my vision, and I notice the two armed guards inside the space.
Everyone turns when a door opens and Ari exits his room, his gaze meeting mine before anyone else’s. His face softens immediately, his color flushing. Then, as he reads my expression, he scans the scene. He clenches his jaw and straightens. He’s ready to fight.
“Your Bracelet.” Bia holds out her hand, her eyes focused on her palm. “Once you’ve returned what’s mine, then we can discuss how you were made welcome here, taken in, and had your vessel seen to, and the audacity of you thanking us by spying on us—stealing from us. And why you thought you would get away with this grave mistake, girl.”
I swallow again and force my voice out. “I—I only want to find my papa. Why won’t you help me, tell me everything you know? Instead you’re keeping secrets from me. I wouldn’t have had to sneak a—”
Bia nods at Jas. And then everything happens so fast.
Jas turns in my direction. I call out in protest, holding the Bliss-Pod behind me to protect Jojo. Ari reaches me before Jas does, standing in front of me and brandishing a knife out of nowhere. The two armed guards rush toward him. Jojo barks like mad from inside the Bliss-Pod. Charlie shakes his head in disbelief. “Mind you don’t hurt the dog!” he shouts.
It’s all too much. A chill sweeps over me as I back away. My brolly slips slowly from my arm into my hand.
Just as one of the guards reaches Ari and points her weapon at him, and I’m raising my brolly in her direction, a low, unmistakably urgent alarm sounds around the space. Everyone freezes. An even deeper siren follows it. Red lights flash all around the Den.
For the briefest moment, nobody speaks. And then:
“Raid!” shouts Charlie. “The Post is under attack!”
Several heads whip up in the direction of the Trading Post above us.
“Stations!” shouts Bia, hastening to a far wall. “You all know what to do. They must not discover the Den!” Everyone starts rushing around the room.
Attack. Oh my God . . . Anthropoids are attacking this place right now.
“Who did you tell?” Bia looks over her shoulder and yells at me. “Who have you informed of our location? Speak up, girl!”
“What? Nobody! I only spoke with the twins, and I never mentioned your location!”
She turns around to face me, hands on hips and her eyes penetrating. “Somebody followed you here, then . . . This raid cannot be a coincidence. It’s the Blackwatch out there.”
The Blackwatch. My stomach drops. “It’s nothing to do with me!” Was it just a coincidence the Blackwatch turned up while I was here?
She presses her lips together and shakes her head, turning back around. My legs quiver. There’s a rumbling in the background, and then a low boom.
Ari rushes over to me, his eyes blazing with urgency. “Please listen to me now. It’s a full-blown attack; I know the signs. We must get out of here. And this is our only chance. I will go check the sub; I have primary rights now, and I will make sure it’s ready. You hide somewhere safe until I tell you the vessel is all set for departure.”
A louder boom makes me jump. It’s like the attack on Brighton Pier all over again. Only worse.
“All right, but I want to come with you!”
He runs his hands through his hair, his expression conflicted. “No, Leyla. You must stay down here until we’re ready to depart. It’s too dangerous for you up there. Please.”
I nod, a feeling of nausea rising inside. “Go, then. Hurry!”
He rushes toward the door, throwing one of Bia’s guys out of the way as he does. I scan the room. All I can hear are various alarms and shouted instructions. Some people are by the armory, grabbing weapons, others frantically working away at the screens, while more are communicating via video chats. I never did find out what they do. I swing my gaze left to catch Jas hurriedly exiting an internal door. He squints at me and looks around for Ari.
The door to the Den slides open as one of Bia’s people rushes in, and I see my chance.
Charlie told us there was another way down to the Den, a way that avoided “the scenic route,” he’d said, referring to the Trading Post. I need to locate it so I’m ready to run when Ari tells me we’re good to go. I glance at Jas. Then at the door still ajar. I look at him once more, and he lurches forward just as I run.
I race through the door. When I glimpse the blue of Jas’s turban behind me, I continue running.
Everything’s louder out here: sirens, shouting, and the thud and boom of firepower. My heartbeat thrashes away in my ears, and my chest squeezes tighter and tighter.
The corridors are dimmer than they were yesterday, and the ominous red pulses through the passageways.
When it feels like I’ve been racing down the same corridors forever, I have no choice but to pause and catch my breath. “Please,” I say, turning around to face Jas, who’s still on my heels. “I only want to find my papa. Please let me go.”
His eyes flicker, softening for a moment. But then he blinks and straightens. “Look, I have my orders—you must not leave the Den.” His expression is rigid, but his tone almost pleading as he blocks my path. Despite his words, he hasn’t pulled his weapon on me.
Jojo barks nonstop from inside her pod now.
“I’m really sorry, Jas,” I say.
His bushy black eyebrows meet, and he opens his mouth. I whip the brolly up, and before he can get a single word out, press down on the button. He yelps so loud when the spray hits his eyes I almost drop the brolly. Groaning and trying to blink the substance out, he moves aside. As I push past him, Jas mumbles something. Then louder.
“Upstairs, then stay left and you’ll find the docking bay.” Tears stream down his face. “We’re on the same side; it’s not what you think. Look, just get out of here. Argh!” He rubs his fists into his increasingly red eyes.
“Oh, thank you so much, Jas! I’m really, truly sorry!” I shout as I run past him, deeply regretting my actions. At the corner, I turn right for the stairs.
I run upstairs as fast as I can. Boom. The ground shakes slightly beneath me, and it’s an effort not to stumble. Murmuring soothing words to Jojo, I do as Jas said and stay left. Finally I open a door leading to the docking bay. It’s frantic. People run and shout in every direction as they hasten to their vessels.
My hands shaking, I access the hatch to the Kabul and yell in my Bracelet for Oscar to let me in as I run through the sub’s bridge. Within moments, the hatch to the sub is released and I’m safely inside.
I let out a huge sigh of relief at the submarine’s familiar smell and thrum. I hadn’t realized until now just how much I love it, how I already think of it as home.
Jojo scrambles out of her pod as I order the bridge connecting us to the Trading Post to retract. I run to the saloon, straight into the viewing port. And stifle a cry.