Page 78 of High Noon

“Canyou pull her now?” I asked.

She pushed her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. “I can try.”

Suddenly feeling the absence of Maru, I looked around for him. No shadows moved in the light. The streets were silent except for the insects’ hum. I hadn’t heard a sound. Not a single swish of fabric. Not a footstep. Yet Maru was gone. “Where did Maru go?”

Yarrow’s mouth gaped open stupidly. “I’m not sure. I was focused on Eve.” She inhaled deeply. “I can find him. He’s bleeding.”

Maru. Eve had described him as slicker than an eel. When she said it, I wasn’t sure what she meant, but her trainer was exactly as she’d said. He’d slipped away, torn his tech out, and was now virtually untraceable.

And I couldn’t hunt him because I had to bring Eve home.

“Can you see whether Titus has landed?”

She shook her head. “I can’t tell.” Hurriedly sifting through reams of data, her fingers flew across the keyboard. “Wait. He… he just showed up. He’s south of here. I’ll locate his coordinates and then we’ll know where the Complex is!” she exclaimed. A blinking blip appeared on her screen, south of the city. South of the Compound where Victor waited. “He’s falling.”

“Send the command to bring Eve to me. Now.” A sinking sensation filled my stomach, like it did when my ship dipped into the deep trough of a wave.

Yarrow went silent and still. Finally, she spoke. “Enoch, brace yourself.” Yarrow winced as she looked up.

“Did he already pull her?” My heart thundered.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so… but I can’t detect her anymore.”

I froze. “What does that mean?”

“It could mean several things,” Yarrow answered gently. “Kael could’ve turned her tracker off, he could have pulled her to him, or… You said she was sick, right?”

No. “No,” I begged. “That can’t be it. She can’t be gone.” Yarrow waited as I scrambled for what to do next. “Try again to find her.”

She tried. Again and again.

“I’m sorry.”

I slapped the laptop out of her hand. “You’re sorry?!” I roared.

She cowered, folding into the fetal position, her hands over her ears as she braced for the impact of my wrath.

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