“I’ll warn you one last time before we leave,” I breathed, my stomach twisting itself into knots as I thought about what I was about to attempt. “Don’t dare try to yell, or catch anyone’s attention as we pass by. Remember, I have nothing to lose. If I sense that you’re leading me in the wrong direction, or if I suspect you’re even close to stepping out of line, I will fire a bullet into the base of your spine, which will either kill you or, perhaps worse, paralyze you for life.” I glared at her menacingly. “I wouldn’t take that risk if I were you.”

Jocelyn inhaled a sharp breath before nodding again, apparently having lost her voice.

“If somebody talks to you, you respond casually and end the conversation as soon as possible. You must act normally as we walk, as though you are escorting me somewhere. Stick close to me, and don’t try to drift more than half a foot apart. If I sense you drifting further, I’ll dig the gun harder against your back as a warning. There will be no second warning.”

“A-All right.” Jocelyn began moving shakily to step outside of the curtain, but I held her back.

“Wait a moment,” I murmured.

We would be in fuller view of the CCTV cameras once we moved out into the main ward area, and before we stepped out, I needed to hide the gun—but not too hidden so that Jocelyn might see me as less of a threat to her life. I eyed the clothes that she was wearing. Beneath her lab coat was a beige cardigan. Roughly pulling off her coat, I tugged on her cardigan. She slipped it off and handed it to me before pulling her coat back on. I bundled the cardigan around my right forearm and pulled it lower down so that it also covered my right hand that held the gun. If I kept my hand close behind her back, even if we passed by someone in the corridors, on cursory glance it should be hard for them to tell that I’d taken Jocelyn hostage—providing she didn’t decide to mess things up.

“Okay,” I whispered, drawing in a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

Positioning the gun against her back, I nudged her outside the curtain so that she could lead the way. The two of us exited the compartment and emerged into the vastness of the main ward.

My mind raced and my throat dried out as we moved toward the exit. Assuming we made it to the parking lot, I would have to figure out how to drive. I’d only taken a few driving lessons in my life, before things at home became too hectic and our money ran dry. I hadn’t been able to continue learning, and I could only hope that once I sat in the driver’s seat, I would remember enough to get by.

The clock had started ticking the moment I threatened Jocelyn. I feared that it wasn’t a question of if I would get caught, but when. Even if I managed to control Jocelyn enough to make it to the vehicle, I could not keep control of her forever.

I forced my mind back to the present moment. Jocelyn’s pace was too slow for my liking. I gave her a nudge with the gun, which made her speed up. We exited the ward and emerged in a wide corridor outside. She took a right turn until we arrived at a set of elevators. We entered one, and then she punched the number “2”. The second floor.

I furrowed my brows and my stomach dropped, as I was already feeling suspicious of her. “Why the second floor?” I asked. “I told you that I need you to take me to the parking lot.”

“That is the fastest way to the parking lot,” she replied in an unsteady whisper. “It’s located outside a building a few peaks along from us, and the fastest way to get there is to travel along the walkways.”

I relaxed a little. Of course. In all the stress I was under, I’d forgotten that these buildings were perched among a number of different mountain peaks, all interconnected by those terrifyingly transparent walkways.

After exiting the elevator on the second floor, I looked left and right anxiously, thankful that I couldn’t spot any hunters walking about. My palm was beginning to feel uncomfortably sweaty against the grip of the gun.

Jocelyn took a left, and we walked to the end of the corridor where, indeed, we arrived at the opening of a walkway. Passing along it, we arrived at another corridor, which eventually led to another walkway. A trio of male hunters were walking along it toward us. I held my breath as they passed, relieved that Jocelyn didn’t try anything.

“How much longer?” I whispered, as the hunters disappeared from sight.

“Not much longer,” Jocelyn replied in a strained voice.

After what felt like the sixth walkway, I finally spotted the parking lot through the glass walls of the building. I heaved a deep sigh of relief. Although the feeling didn’t last long. Even if I managed to figure out how to drive the car away from here, there would surely be some security barriers to get through. I doubted anybody could just drive to and from this place. I realized that I might have no choice but to take Jocelyn with me, and she would have to give some excuse to the security personnel as to why she needed to drive away with me… And then what? Even if we managed all this, where on earth would I even go? I hadn’t the first clue of how to make my way back to The Shade, and I was quite sure that no one on the island knew where I was. They would have noticed that I was missing by now, but they wouldn’t have seen me being dragged away by the hunters in their submarine.

Heck, I didn’t even know where I was.

I shook myself. I had to stop thinking so far ahead and just take this one step at a time. Once I got in the car and got it to start, then I could begin thinking further into the future. At least I would be one step closer to escape than I was an hour ago—however pathetic or small that step might be.