By the time the sounds of celebration die down below us, I have changed into my pajamas—a grey tunic and black cotton capris—removed the colors from my face, and washed the stiffness from my hair. I'm ready to leave and meet Nina in the bathroom, when I realize that once I leave, I won't come back to Daniel's room.

"Did you ask to switch me and Celia yet?" I ask when I reach the door.

Daniel stands from his desk. He's been working on plans for his gamma ray detectors while I washed up. "Not yet," he says, coming toward me.

I can't help but groan, "Daniel."

"I know. I'll do it tomorrow during work hours. I didn't get a chance to talk to Mitchell at the party before we left. Besides, Celia's not ready for that tonight. She's not as strong as you. When I break it to her, I want her to be ready. She's been through a lot."

"Like what?" I ask. Have I not been through a lot as well? Did I not almost die getting here?

"I don't know if she'd appreciate me telling you her stories. Ask her sometime when you hang out."

"Sure," I say, though I don't mean it. I don't want to be, but I'm too jealous to care about Celia. At this point, she's just the girl who's been holding my place; but now that I'm here, it's time for her to move on. "She's not staying in here tonight," I say. "She can stay with me in the Comforter's quarters."

"That's fine," he says, giving me some relief.

"Okay," I say.

He takes my hand and rubs his thumb over my skin, but I'm still unsure of how I should behave around him. Do I hold him back? Or should I be cautious since he's technically a leader here? Leaders can become corrupt. The entire estate has seen this first hand, especially the Comforters. I don't want to acknowledge the jobs for women here—I'm not an object to be passed around—but Daniel has a point: We need to stay low key if we want to get out of here. But even if we leave, won't there still be animosity between the Deathless and the government? Won't there still be mindless cyborgs to liberate?

No matter what Daniel and I do, we will never be free of this place until it's destroyed. My stomach churns at the thought. What if I can't liberate these people? I wonder. I am not sure I can be the hero these people need.

I take a deep breath and shake the thoughts from my mind, "I'm nervous. I feel stupid. I could have gotten us in serious trouble tonight. Irreversible trouble. I'm just... scared, I guess."

"Me too," he admits. He was always the strong one, but here, in this situation, we are finally equals.

"I should go," I say, sighing my anxiety away. I finally return his embrace, wrapping my arm around his waist and stepping close to him. I press my cheek into his chest, listening to his heart beat as I ask, "It's got to be close to midnight by now, isn't it?"

He checks his watch. "11:50. Wait here, just another 10 minutes. We've been away from each other too long already."

I step back to see his face, and he combs his fingers through my damp hair, like muscle memory from before he was taken, when that was the only way he knew to tell me he loved me. "I don't want to be alone until I have to be," he says.

Alone. My mind pauses on that word. I don't want to be alone until I have to be. Alone, like I thought I would be once the Prowlers got my mom. Alone, like my mom and I were after they were taken. After Daniel left the house by choice. After I was left searching our land for him, finding nothing but his gun. The memories sting.

I don't want to be angry right now, not before meeting with the girls, but I can't stop the wave of heat spilling through me from Daniel's words. "You shouldn't have left the house," I say.

He furrows his brows and his eyes widen in apparent sadness. I know that was unfair of me to say, I remember what it felt like when my mom was taken, but I was alone then. When he made the choice to leave the house, he was still leaving me. When I made the choice, I was leaving nothing behind but the house.

"Of course I shouldn't have," he says. This surprises me. I don't know what I thought he'd say, but I'm not used to him admitting I'm right so quickly. "I think about that all the time, Isla. Where is this coming from?"

My mind spirals into all the millions of reasons I could be angry, but it settles on the one reason that always haunts me most. "It's coming from being alone with my mom at home, and standing alone in the ballroom, and in the cell." And there it is, the reasons that have kept me stuck in the mud on the way to forgiveness. Sometimes you don't know the truth until you say it out loud.

"Isla, I can't change the past," he says, but I'm already heading toward the door. This time, I'm going to be the one leaving him alone.

"See you tomorrow, since I can't see you tonight," is all I can say. As soon as I'm in the hall, two drones buzz to my sides, as promised by Nina.

"I have diarrhea," I say angrily, and they buzz back to their resting positions at the mouth of the hallway, leaving me to walk alone to the bathroom at only 11:51.

The words LADIES ONLY are plastered to the door in gold letters, and I push it open into a white marbled room. There are showers along the wall at the end of the room, and stalls directly in front of me. At the very end of the room is a closet, probably for cleaning products or towels.

"Hello?" I whisper. Nothing. "It's me, Isla."

The latch of the closet turns, and the door creeps open. Mahogany eyes poke out from the dark. Then, a sigh of relief echoes against the marble, as Nina swings the door open all the way. "Sorry, just had to be sure it was you. You're early. Come on in," she says with a smile.

"In?"

"Yeah. I know, it's weird, but just trust me." Her voice is playful, yet guttural, like a child is trying to claw its way back through her. "Hey, are you okay? It looks like you've been crying."

"Oh, yeah," I lie, "I'm fine. It must be from just taking off all the make-up."

She smiles and rolls her eyes. "Tell me about it, I hate that stuff. Anyway, c'mon back."

She leads me into the closet, where, behind the mops and buckets, I see a sheet of wood propped against the wall.

"Close the door," Nina whispers, and I pull it shut, leaving us in complete darkness, except for a glow around the wood. She pulls it away, and I see a carved out hall into the dark, unfinished space behind the walls, and a dim light glows from around a far corner.

"What is this?" I ask.

She puts her finger to her lips to quiet me, and whispers, "Emergency flooding canals behind the walls." Just like the bunker had.

"Hold on," I say, grabbing her arm. "Why do you trust me? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Daniel or someone?"

She smiles. "After watching you yell at George Cooper tonight? Not only do we trust you, but I think the girls are actually lining up to shake your hand. Let's go."

She takes a step through the wall, and I don't think twice about following her. She trusts me. She believes in me. And she doesn't even know me. Just like Jane. I like these girls. Their kindness reminds me of Declan.

Once I've joined her inside the closet, Nina puts the sheet of wood back in place, and we start towards the light. We need to duck to avoid hitting the plumbing that runs above our heads, but still, we move quickly toward the glowing light. Around the corner and down another dusty canal of pipes, until we reach a pulley attached to a metal sheet, which hangs over a plummeting tunnel.

"What now?" I whisper.

"Here," she says, as she pulls a second rope around my waist and ties it in a fisherman's knot. Then she does the same to herself with the other end, but not before wrapping it around the rope that holds the metal slab over the falling tunnel. She jumps over the tunnel—it's not very wide at all—and now we are on opposite sides of the metal sheet.

"Okay, now, we both hop onto this sheet so our weight is even, and then we can start to lower ourselves. Got it?" Before I even have a chance to answer she says, "And if we're uneven, and one of us slips, no screaming. Got it?"

I nod, and she smiles.

"On the count of three. One..."

She grabs the rope, and I see a thick scar running across her tan forearm, like a tiger stripe.

"Two..."

I grab the rope.

"Three."

We hop on, but even though she's taller than me, I must weigh more, because my side of the metal sheet nearly flips over. I bite my lip to keep from screaming, and tighten my core to try pulling myself up.

"Widen your stance," she strains to whisper, and I look down to see my feet embarrassingly close together. No wonder. I inch them apart and tighten my stomach until we are balanced again.

"Got it?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's start lowering ourselves."

We grip the rope lower and lower, sending it coursing through a series of pullies that allow us to remain upright. We pass what must be the first floor, the underground military base or whatever it was, and down to the lowest level: a place I didn't even know existed.

The metal plate touches down, and I allow myself to collapse to the floor, bringing Nina down with me since the rope is tied around us both.

"Easy, now, Isla. It wasn't that hard," she laughs, untying herself.

"Are you kidding?"

She laughs again. "No, but then again, I didn't just survive a battle."

She unties us and helps me to my feet, and we brush the dirt from our pajamas.

When I look up, I see something I couldn't have imagined: a group of Comforters standing at metal tables illuminated by electric lanterns. Some hold tubes, some hold beakers, and some hold equipment. Celia is in the crowd, holding a beaker upside down, like she's never seen it used before in her life. There is a case behind all of them, in which I see hundreds of sample vials of chemicals. They have tried to create their own chemistry lab.

"Isla," Nina says, "these are the girls. We need your help."

"With what?" My mouth gapes in awe.

"We want to destroy this place, but we need a leader. So, here you are: our leader. And here we are: your new Deathless army."