Page 19 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)

“Along with the fence surrounding the hunting grounds, a magnetic force field is synced with your wristbands. It adjusts every

thirty minutes, keeping you trapped within a segment of the hunting grounds. For the first thirty minutes, you’ll be confined

to the outer edge of the grounds—between the perimeter fence and the force field’s boundary. Then the boundary will move in,

forcing you closer to the center but not yet allowing you to reach safety. You’ll stay in that second segment for thirty minutes

before the boundary moves in a final time, and that’s when you can attempt to reach the Blood Tree.”

The Blood Tree. The term the inmate from the showers had repeated over and over. I felt sick.

“What’s the Blood Tree?” one of the inmates asked, shaking so hard they could barely get the words out.

“The Blood Tree is the landmark you must reach to survive the hunt,” Vale explained. “You’re attempting to get there alive,

and the hunters will be trying to kill you before you reach it.”

I narrowed my eyes. So the force field was to stop us from sprinting directly for the Blood Tree as soon as we were released

onto the grounds. Two minutes was a big head start, and with the weapons the hunters carried, they would be slower than us.

Without the force field in place, I bet most targets could make it to the Blood Tree alive.

But that’d be no fun for the hunters.

I gritted my teeth.

August elbowed me, breaking me from my thoughts as he tilted his head to whisper in my ear. “The Blood Tree has sensors. As

soon as you touch it, your wristband will turn red, and the hunters will no longer be able to shoot at you.”

Vale cleared his throat, looking pointedly in our direction until August closed his mouth and faced the front of the room

again.

“The order in which you reach the Blood Tree impacts your rank. The faster you get there, the more your rank will increase.”

There was no way I’d be the first one there, not when I needed as much time as the force field would allow to explore the

hunting grounds and try to find a weakness in the security for our escape.

One part of Vale’s explanation didn’t make sense to me, though.

“The magnetic field,” I blurted. “How will we know that it’s closing in? Or that we’re at the boundary?”

Vale frowned, his eyes flitting over my face. “You’ll feel it. Move as quickly as you can, and you won’t have cause to worry

about it.”

I looked around the room, sizing up the other inmates, and my eyes caught on Torin. He was trembling, and great rivulets of

sweat trickled from his hair onto his forehead.

I swallowed, turning away.

Vale scanned his key card and unlatched the steel door that lay before us, confirming what I’d suspected—it was our entrance

to the hunting grounds. The door opened to reveal a few feet of open space and a metal wall blocking out what lay beyond,

though the dreary gray of the sky remained visible.

“There is one rule once the hunt starts,” Vale said. “Do not physically engage with any hunter who isn’t attacking you. No

starting fights or intervening on another inmate’s behalf. No ganging up with other inmates to take down the hunters.

“Once you step through this door, walk to the end of the passageway until you reach your designated stall,” he continued.

“You’ll be closed into your stall during the countdown. When the countdown ends and the buzzer goes off, you’ll be released

onto the grounds, free to follow any strategy you wish.”

An inmate ahead of me collapsed, falling to the floor, their arms and legs jerking about wildly.

“He’s having a seizure!” August called out, dropping down next to the inmate.

“Great,” Hyde growled, rolling his eyes as he walked over. He pushed up his sleeves, displaying his bony arms and tally tattoos

as he reached for the inmate. “Now we’ll have to start late.”

“We’re not starting late,” Vale snapped, striding up to him. “Bring him to the infirmary.”

Vale turned, scanning the room until his eyes fell on another guard. “Anya!” he called out to her. “We need a replacement.

Ignore the rotation and get me someone from Block A; it’ll be faster.”

Anya raced off, but the other inmates pressed at my back, pushing me along through the door into the open-air, metal-lined

passageway before I could see more.

I hesitated before a stall, and Hyde shoved me forward. I stumbled until I caught myself against a cold steel wall. A door

slammed shut behind me, sealing me into the tight metal box. My chest constricted, my breathing turning shallow and rapid.

“No,” I whispered. The walls were too close. Too tight.

I gazed upward, feeling the oppressive, cloud-covered sky pushing down on me, suffocating me. The humid air caught in my throat,

and sweat trickled down my back, tickling my skin. Would the hunters be waiting on the other side of the door, fingers twitching,

rifles held, ready to shoot us down as soon as we came through?

My heart pounded like a frantic bird beating its wings against the cage of my ribs. I scanned the stall for an escape route,

but the gleaming walls towered above me, their surfaces polished smooth and free of grips or footholds.

Vale’s voice broke through my panicked slew of thoughts. “Targets. In a few moments, you’ll hear the start of a timer. You’ll

have ten seconds to prepare yourselves, and then a buzzer will sound, and we’ll release you from your stalls. At that point,

I suggest you run. Two minutes following your release, you’ll hear an alarm that signals the hunters have been allowed onto

the grounds. Good luck.”

The countdown began, each tick of the timer syncing with my beating heart, pulsing through my veins, burrowing into my very

bones.

And then the buzzer pierced the air, and the metal before me slid away to reveal the hunting grounds.