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“Shit,” I muttered as I began climbing up after her. “Five minutes, but I’m coming with you.”

“I don’t need a chaperone.”

“You’re not going alone,” I shot back before looking down at the Shadow. “Don’t lock this hatch. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Chapter 26

Kali

The Shadow nodded stiffly, clearly uneasy that we were leaving, but he didn’t argue. Keeva pulled the large bar, unlocking the steel door before pushing it open. Sunlight nearly blinded me for a moment before my eyes adjusted.

I climbed out, peering around with my heart hammering. This was a different entrance than the one we used a week ago. Trees surrounded us, and the fallen barn was nowhere in sight. Nerves flushed through me, making my pulse thud as I rushed to catch up with Keeva after shutting the hatch.

“Wait,” I shouted. “We can’t go far.”

She ignored me, disappearing behind a tree for a moment before going deeper into the forest. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have let her come out here. I ran ahead, finally catching up to her.

“I’m just trying to find an open spot,” she said before I could say a word. “Relax, Kali. We can both hear if someone is coming.”

Relax.I didn’t even know what that word meant anymore. I’d been walking on eggshells for months.

“There,” I said tightly, motioning to the left.

There was a small patch of long grass that the sun was hitting. Keeva grinned, stepping into the warm rays, and spinning in a circle. I couldn’t help but share her small joy as I joined her. She fell to the ground, lying on her back.

“It feels freeing,” she admitted quietly.

“I know.” I sat next to her, pulling a piece of the tall grass from the ground and playing with it. “If we defeat PARA and Amaros, then we’ll truly be free. But to do that, we need to be careful.”

All I could hear were birds, and other small animals around us, but when Keeva began talking, it became more difficult to hear any new noises.

“I don’t mean to come off as uncaring,” she said, her eyes closed as she laid there. “All of this is just a lot.”

That was understandable, but it didn’t change the fact that we had to be careful. I was counting down the minutes until we had to go back to the compound.

“PARA never told me anything about my past,” she murmured. “I grew up in the dark, knowing nothing.”

“Until I met Zan and his family, I didn’t know anything either.” I rested back on my palms, enjoying the sun as much as she was. “Amaros knows a lot. But we’ll never know it all. If he finds us, we’ll be worse off than if we were dead.”

“Who do you fear more?” she questioned, glancing at me. “PARA or the vampires?”

I chuckled humorlessly. “Both are bad in their own way.”

We sat in silence, and while the sun was calming, I was still on edge. Zan was going to be furious when he found out we’d left.

“We should go back,” I finally said. “It’s been longer than five minutes.”

“Go ahead. I’m staying here.”

I rubbed my temples. “Please. We did what you wanted. We’re vulnerable out here.”

She laughed. “Vulnerable? Look at us, Kali. We’re powerful. So much so that everyone wants us. We are athreat, not prey.”

“I’m also not stupid,” I snapped. “I’ve been with Amaros. Seen his strength. His cruelness. PARA is just as bad. And they have their own power, even if it’s different from ours.”

She ignored my words and began humming. My chest grew tighter the longer we stayed, and I finally jumped to my feet. Between the thick trees and her humming, my senses were working overtime, attempting to listen to any new sounds.

“Let’s go,” I demanded, my patience gone.