Alana lost two more games of gambit before Selena served stew for dinner. Each time, Theo talked her through her mistakes and showed her what she did wrong.

Personally, I could understand why the game was hard. There were so many pieces and movements. I wasn't all that good at chess, and this looked much more difficult.

After dinner, Erik and Selena made up blanket pallets for their guests near the fire. The giants claimed they needed to be up early to handle their farm, so they left us alone.

"Sorry we had to come here," Alana said as she climbed into her blanket bundle.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked. "Your father is great."

"He's different," Alana said. "And he loves me. If the laws were different, he would have welcomed me into his home and raised me as his daughter. Doc, however, thought that was a bad idea. She's not allowed any half-giants to be raised in Jontun by their giant parent in over twenty years. Not since Kimmy's accident."

"Gayle said some giants made her drink acid," I shuddered.

Alana nodded. "At the time, her father had just been promoted to Lieutenant, and Doc took Kimmy's accident as a personal attack on halfants even though it was some teenage giants being morons."

"Humans aren't much better," I said. "Why leave Milo here with your dad if giants treat anyone with human blood so badly?"

"I was desperate," Alana said. "Milo needed a family. I'm... I'm a soldier. This was the closest thing I could give him to what he deserved. He's only run once from here, and he came back in two days. Doc only approved it because the other option was keeping Milo at Half Circle, which wasn't working out."

I could imagine that Milo McDonald got along with my great-aunt worse than his sister did. After all, as a full human, she had no jurisdiction over him.

"Do giants know he's here?" I asked.

"He doesn't leave Theo's land," Alana said. "And this farm is isolated. He mostly stays at the house, and if he behaves, he knows I'll consider other options in a year. He's doing better here than anywhere else."

Alana dropped her hand over her eyes and rolled in the other direction. She wasn't discussing her brother or her family anymore. That much was clear.

I wasn't sure how long it took me to doze off. It took all my willpower and concentration to keep my mind free of wonders. I didn't need any more visions.

Unfortunately, the moment I fell asleep, I was back in the strange world of the potential future. I was never sure anymore what was my imagination or what might happen.

Once again, I found myself traveling the same places I had for the past week. It started with a hallway that looked so sterile that it was either a hospital or a prison. Everything was stark white, and shouts and screams came from behind doors down the hall.

One giant came through a door at the end of a hallway. He wore a canary yellow jumpsuit, and his rose gold hair was buzzed to his scalp. A glob of his spit hit the immaculate floor, and a large giant with ebony skin slammed the prisoner against the wall with a stick.

"You're not special," the giant pressed his stick into the prisoner's back.

One of the doors to my right opened. I turned to face the new room and walked into what looked like a strange utilitarian apartment. It was one room and was missing a kitchen, but it was a far cry nicer than the other cells.

Inside the room sat a boy no older than me. He had overgrown lavender hair, and his beard was unkempt. He bounced a rubber ball off the wall and into his hand.

I knew he was a prisoner like the other man based on his yellow jumpsuit alone. This boy, though, was young, and I knew in my gut he'd committed no crime.

"I wonder, I wonder, I wonder," the stranger's voice was hoarse from misuse. "Please, please, please."

I stepped further into the room. The stranger looked at me, and I was caught in his blue and golden gaze. This time, though, he stared at me so long that I was almost certain he could see me.

"Please," his voice was begging. "Please, Terri, please."

My mouth was dry, and my tongue felt like glue. Here was a stranger pleading for my help, and it felt so real.

He caught the ball in his hand, and I could see a tear in his gold eye. He turned away from her and fell to his knees.

"I'm going to go mad just like her," he said. "Please. Please. I'll disappear. I promise. Just get me out of here, please. Please. Please."

I took a step forward and tried to put my hand on the stranger's shoulder. My fingers connected with solid flesh, and the stranger jerked and looked at me again.

"Is this real?" He asked. "Are you here?"

"Is this real?" My voice echoed back.

He shivered. Then his hand reached out and cupped my face. I could feel the warmth seeping off his fingers, and his thumb caressed my cheek.

"Are you here?" His voice broke on the last word, but his lips didn't move.

I could feel my body shaking. He stood without moving his hand from my cheek. As he rose and I looked into his eyes, one blue and the other gold, I realized this boy was more than a stranger.

"Who are you?" The thought echoed, and somehow, the answer came to me.

This stranger was blood. He was an Oakeley. I knew it in my bones. We were family, and this was real.

If our visions came true, Victor was sure we'd meet this boy soon. If he was locked up in prison, why was I so sure he was innocent?

I tried the name Victor, and I had heard in our prior visions, "Ric?"

The stranger shook his head and opened his mouth, and suddenly, I was sitting bolt upright in my bed pallet, and Alana was shaking my shoulder with her hand wrapped around my mouth.

I tried to push her off me with a muffled scream, and she tightened her grip. She put her other hand to her lips, and I realized there were voices outside.

"They've found us," her voice hissed in my ear.

Theo was barricading the door, and he held a pitchfork aloft. Selena stood behind him, holding Erik to her side. She pointed at Milo, who was moving a large rug by the bed to reveal a trap door.

Alana's eyes widened. She looked between her father and the door with a look of complete shock. Theo just nodded.

Milo pulled open the trap door to reveal a ladder descending into the darkness below. His sister let go of my mouth and pointed at the trap door.

"I'll discuss with my father why he's got an underground tunnel installed in his house later," she whispered. "We've gotta go."

I followed Alana, crawling across the floor to the trap door. The two of us descended down into the darkness, following the green-capped human.

The tunnel was deep enough that simply dropping down would break anyone's legs. It took much longer than I was expecting to descend the ladder and hit the floor of the tunnel.

Above, the hatch closed, and I could only assume Selena and Erik were hoisting the rug back into place. Alana lit up the screen on her wrist, so we weren't in complete darkness, but there were no flashlights and lanterns around.

"What in Stormos's name were they thinking?" Alana demanded. "Pop shouldn't be affiliated with the underground."

"Theo plays by his own rules," Milo said. "And I was ecstatic when I found this place. Did a bit of exploring but was forced to go back to Theo."

"Theo, let you go down here?" Alana looked horrified.

"I found the tunnel," Milo said. "I didn't realize... when I learned what it was, staying with Theo didn't seem so bad."

Alana shook her head. "Pop and I need to have a serious conversation about your well-being, Milo."

I frowned. "This tunnel is saving our butts. Where does it go?"

"No clue," Alana said. "But it's a smuggling tunnel for humans. It's not something my father should be involved with. The underground is illegal even if they've mostly switched to contraband goods."

"I know my way around down here a little," Milo said. "I can get us out four farms south to Clancy Jack'son's place."

"He's a human sympathizer," Alana said. "Pop introduced me to him once when I was young."

"And in this case, that's not a bad thing," Milo said. "After all, I'm human, and the old man likes me. You could probably launch off from his place."

Alana nodded. "Milo, you're coming back to Redwood with me. Not sure Theo's house is safe anymore."

Milo didn't argue. He led us down a right branch when the tunnel split and down another length. It was reassuring that he knew where he was going until he came to a dead stop when the passages split into three.

Milo grabbed his sister's wrist to move her light. Alana stiffened like she was startled, and her skin seemed almost white in the dim light. Milo maneuvered the light on her hand towards a wall.

That's when I spotted the code scrawled on the wall. It was some type of runic language mixed with various polygons. Milo frowned, and then his face slowly lit into a grin.

"Let go of me," Alana jerked away from her brother. "Don't ever do that again."

"We need to go left," he said.

"Who taught you to read old giantish? And that looked like it was in cipher," Alana pointed the light down the left hallway.

"Selena taught me," Milo said. "I'm not great, but I can sound things out. The cipher was something Theo showed me."

Alana shook her head. "Just get us out of here, Milo."

We tracked down the left hallway. Milo moved ahead of his sister, leading the way. Alana held up the light with one hand and hugged her chest with the other.

"How far are we?" I asked.

"Nearly there," Milo said. "Do you need to stop Alana?"

His sister glared at him, and her voice was colder than Penguin Compound. "I'm fine."

She didn't look fine. Her arm was still grasped around her chest like a vice, and her pupils were blown wide. Alana's breaths came in quick bursts, and she'd bitten her lip so hard it was bleeding.

"Didn't realize that still bothered you," Milo said. "I know Aunt Celeste did a number on you, but you're like a boss commander now."

"If you mention that monster again, I'll make sure you end up in a cell at Gorgon's Keep," Alana said. "I bet you can't escape that."

Milo blanched. "I'm your brother, you know. You can talk to me."

"You," Alana puffed, "are an overindulged brat incapable of following directions. I'm really glad my compound has a holding cell."

"You can't lock up your brother, Alana," I said. "I don't think even Moreno would let you do that."

Milo came to a stop again. He pressed up against the wall and pulled down a rope ladder made from some kind of braided grass.

"After you," he said, gesturing to his sister.

Alana climbed up the ladder quickly and pushed open the trap door above. She stuck her head out and pulled herself through the hole.

I followed her up, with Milo following behind. When I made it through the top of the hole, someone grabbed my shoulder and shoved me above ground. The trap door slammed shut behind me, and I was face to face with a familiar giant looking mighty pleased to see me.

"Call her highness," Finn Hassan'son said, jerking my hands behind my back and securing them with a zip tie. "We've found her missing daughter."

I tried to scream and shout for help. Maybe Milo could hear me or something. It didn't look like he'd come out of the trap door.

Finn shoved a wet cloth in my mouth before I could scream again. I breathed in the sickening, sweet fumes, and my head started to spin.

Three soldiers were securing Alana nearby. Her head was bloody and lolled to the side. The giants around her were removing her armor. Finn pocketed her blue gun, and then my whole world went black.

Hey friends!! Sorry about the cliffhanger. So, what do you think about the dynamic between Milo and Alana? Any theories about Terri's dreams? I hope you liked this chapter and lots of things are coming soon for Terri, especially since she's on a collision course with her mother.