Page 82 of Tag
Sixth:Tag Harris
Seventh:Classified
I stared at the paper like it might catch fire in my hands.
They weren’t just watching us.
They’d marked us.
I looked at the girl again. “What’s your name?”
She hesitated. “Lacey.”
I frowned. “Is that your real name?”
She shook her head. “It’s the one they gave me. My name is Lacey.”
I crouched down again. “Well, we’re taking it back. You ready?”
Her eyes burned with something fierce. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Tag’s voice came in low behind me. “We need to move. Now.”
I grabbed Lacey’s hand, motioned for the others to follow, and led them out into the night.
The tower was down. The guards were either unconscious or dead. Raven signaled the all-clear as we sprinted back to the extraction point.
The wind picked up as the helicopter landed. Tag helped the girls inside, one by one, while I climbed in last—still clutching the list.
Lacey curled up beside me, resting her head on my shoulder like she’d known me forever.
I looked across the cabin at Tag.
They knew our names.
They knew our faces.
And whoever that woman was with the silver eye…
She wasn’t done yet.
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Tag
The helicopter's blades cut through the sky like a war drum.
But in the cabin, it was quiet.
Too quiet.
Lacey had fallen asleep against Aponi’s side, but I knew Aponi wasn’t resting. She hadn’t said a word since we took off—just sat there holding the paper like it might tell her more if she stared hard enough.
I sat across from her, watching the storm build behind her eyes. She wasn’t breaking down—Aponi didn’t do that. She was processing. Calculating.
Preparing for war.
When we landed, Cyclone and Gage helped the girls off the helicopter and led them inside the safehouse. Blue was already there, waiting to examine them. She took one look at their bare feet and hollow eyes and went full doctor mode, her voice soft and warm as she ushered them into the medical room.
