A stirring from the hatch below startled Hunter awake. He gave Thad a nudge and stood with a held breath until Ella’s head appeared.

  “Hunter?” She took another step up, confusion etched on her face. “Thad? What happened? How did I get back here?”

  Hunter released the breath. “Ella, what’s the last thing you remember?”

  She rubbed her forehead as she lifted herself out of the hidden room. “I remember leaving while you all were asleep. I am so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about that. You’re safe now. Keep going.”

  “I remember walking down the street. And…” Ella’s mouth dropped open, “Michael was there. He was everywhere. I tried to run, but he—they caught me. Then everything went black.”

  Hunter and Thad exchanged a worried glance. “And you don’t remember anything else?”

  Ella shook her head.

  “You might want to take a seat.”

  “Why?”

  Thad put a bottle to his lips. “Yeah, this is going to be a lot to take in.”

  Ella slowly moved towards the couch and sat down as Hunter took a seat on the coffee table in front of her. “Listen, this is going to sound crazy. Believe me. Thad and I have been over it a hundred times and it still doesn’t make sense. By the time we caught up with you, the Republic Guards had you captured. Knocked out cold. But before we could move, something…happened.”

  “What?”

  “You changed, Ella.” Hunter cleared his throat. “Something took over.”

  “Your feet lifted from the ground,” Thad said, his voice hushed. “Just a few inches at first, then higher, until you were suspended in the air. A faint hum, like static electricity, filled the alley, and your eyes…they glowed, like twin flashlights burning through the dark.” He swallowed hard. “A guard…he just touched you, and…”

  Hunter placed a hand on Thad's arm. "Easy, man."

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  Tears streamed down Ella’s face. “Is that true?”

  Hunter nodded.

  “I killed a man?”

  “Yes, and no. Your body killed a man, but it wasn’t you.”

  “This isn’t possible. I don’t remember any of that.”

  “Whatever it was, it must have drained you, because that was five days ago.”

  “And I’ve been asleep ever since?”

  “Yes.”

  Ella stood and backed towards the door. “I can’t be here. It’s not safe for you to be around me.”

  Hunter stood with outstretched hands. “Ella, it’s not safe out there.”

  “For me…” An uncontrollable torrent of tears escaped Ella’s eyes. “or for them?”

  “For you. Please, Ella, sit back down. Let us help you.”

  Ella gingerly walked towards the couch but stopped short, collapsing into Hunter’s arms. A flash of his last moments with his brother flashed in Hunter’s mind as he wiped away a tear of his own.

  “We’ll get through this, alright.” He held Ella out and looked into her shredded eyes. “I promise.”

  Hunter helped Ella back to her seat as Thad handed her a glass of water.

  “Whoever is after you has to be a powerful person. Do you know who that would be?”

  Ella nodded, her gaze fixed on some unseen horror. “Doctor Robert Stanton.”

  The beer bottle slipped from Thad’s hands and shattered on the floor. “Holy shit.”

  “You know him?”

  “I’ve heard the name before. On the streets. Whispers. They say he’s a monster. If someone goes missing out there, especially a family, it can probably be traced back to him. They say he takes them and does things.”

  “It’s worse, much worse.” Ella’s hand instinctively went to the carvings on her back, her fingers tracing the intricate lines. A shudder ran through her. “He kidnaps entire families and puts them through terrible experiments.” She closed her eyes, and a single tear escaped. “The pain. The never-ending screams. It’s like they’re still inside me.”

  “Why? Why would someone do that?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that monster still has my family. They risked everything so that I could escape.”

  “We’ll get them out of that place, you hear me?” Hunter lifted Ella’s chin until her eyes met his.

  “I promise you, we’ll do everything we can to get them out.”

  “How?”

  Hunter looked at his friend and back at Ella. “I’m not sure yet. But we’ll figure something out. We have to.”

  He glanced at the shattered glass on the floor, then back at Ella.

  Stanton…what kind of man takes families?