“Shit.”

“ ‘Shit’? What do you mean, ‘shit’?”

“It’s okay,” I rushed to assure him. “I just used an old code. And, um, set the alarm on freak- out.”

He whirled. “Can you shut it off ?”

“Of course.” I sounded confident for someone who really wasn’t. I raced to remember the codes. There was a rotation of a minimum of seven codes, which were changed randomly and continuously. I’d been taught them the way most children were taught their phone number. This should be easy.

The second code didn’t work either.

Or the third.

“We’re not going to get gassed out of here or something, are we?” Kieran asked nervously.

“Of course not.” I paused. “I don’t think.”

I punched the next code in but my fingers were slippery and slid off the last number. I tried again. The light held red, then went green and blinked off. My shoulders released some of their tension.

“See?” I said nonchalantly. “No problem.”

The gate unlocked with a resounding click and I pushed it open. Kieran was close at my back. The smell of damp intensified and then faded, tinged with sunlight and grass. The tunnel led us to a ladder. I paused on the lowest rung.

“Ready?”

“Maybe you should let me go first.”

“Forget it.” I climbed to the next rung. His hand closed around my ankle. I looked down at him. “Relax, Black. I can climb a ladder.”

“What happens when we get up there, Solange?”

“We run like hell until we’re home safe and sound? It’s a basic plan, but it works for me.”

“That rogue unit might still be up there.”

“Maybe. But we’re coming up pretty far away from where we vanished. And are you telling me they’d hang around for an entire day, just in case?”

“I wish I knew.”

“Well, we can’t stay here all night.”

After a moment, his hold on my ankle released. I could still feel the warm imprint of his palm on my skin as I continued to climb. The trapdoor wouldn’t open right away. Kieran had to wedge himself between me and the wall, and we both shoved until the door creaked open. A spear of sunlight landed between us. His eyes were the color of earth— the dark, rich kind you just know will grow the best flowers, the best vegetables. He was very close, close enough that I could see the faint stubble of a beard on his chin and the way his sideburns grew long, shaved to a straight line, the way the men in movies like Pride and Prejudice always seem to wear them. It gave him the air of a gentleman pirate. The weapons strapped to his chest didn’t hurt. He hauled himself up, never breaking eye contact, even as he snuck past me and managed to be the first one out of the tunnel after all.

“Clear,” he called down quietly.

He reached down to grip my upper arms and pulled me up and out, onto the forest floor. The sun filtered softly between the leaves, the shadows long and blue over the ferns and fallen pine needles. Birds sang, oblivious to our presence. There were no footprints in the loam. I stood up, brushing my hands on my dress. Kieran pulled a compass from his pocket, turned it this way and that way.

“There,” he said, nodding toward and across a valley of ferns and elder bushes.

“Your house is that way. Northwest.”

“Thanks.” I glanced around awkwardly, glanced back. “I guess this is it, then?” He frowned. “What are you talking about? I’m not leaving you here alone.” I swallowed, tried to smile. “You have your own stuff to deal with.”

“Solange, your eyes are changing color.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Let me put it this way.” He moved so fast, I was impressed despite myself. He shoved my shoulder. I stumbled, hit a nearby oak tree, then tumbled into the mud.

My shoulder pulsed painfully.

“Ouch! What the hell was that for?”

“Just proving my point,” he told me grimly. “You think I don’t see how tired you are? How you’re getting weaker?”

I frowned, rubbing my arm. “You pushed me.”

“I barely touched you,” he pointed out. “And you fell over. I guarantee the rogue Helios-Ra unit will be a lot rougher. Not to mention Lady Natasha’s bounty hunters.” I hated that he was right.

“I’m taking you home.” He looked stubbornly mutinous. I’d seen that particular expression on every single one of my brothers’ faces at one time or another. And there was no gracious way for me to turn him down. No logical, intelligent way, either.

He had weapons. I didn’t. If someone came at me in the woods, the only thing I could do was yawn them to sleep. And this was the girl Lady Natasha, queen of the vampires, was afraid of.

“Are you coming?” Kieran asked impatiently but with half a smile, as if he knew what I was thinking.

“Okay, but if vamps attack, I want you to run away.”

“Sure, right after I pirouette in a pink tutu.” He stopped, waited for me to catch up.

“Come on, already.”

The woods were peaceful and quiet, under the chatter of insects and hidden rabbits and porcupines. Frogs sang from some nearby pond, obscured by the green lace of summer leaves. It might have been romantic if I wasn’t convinced someone was waiting around the bend to kill us. He slanted me a glance out of the corner of his eye. And another.