After retrieving my motorcycle from where the wardens had been holding it, I hurtled down the darkened streets of Patrus City at top speed. I relished the howl of the wind in my ears; it matched my mood and helped drown out any doubts I felt about the mission I’d been given.

I didn’t have a lot of options when it came to recovering Violet. There was no telling where she’d gone or how she’d gotten there. Shortly after King Maxen left me, I’d realized that I only had one gambit: The tracking device that Lee had put somewhere on her. With luck, it was still active, and I’d be able to track her down using Lee’s computer.

While I rode, my mind raged with questions. Why had Lee and Violet botched their own frame-up? A part of me—a very small part now— piped up that maybe Violet was behind that. Maybe she hadn’t been able to follow through on the task because of her feelings for me?

I brushed the thought aside. It was unrealistic to think that, when she had lied to me from the very beginning. I had to stop wanting to believe that her affection for me had been genuine. It was a stupid, pathetic hope, built on loneliness and the desire to feel close to someone again.

I needed to let it go.

I twisted the throttle on the bike, urging it faster still. At this speed, it didn’t take long for me to reach Lee’s house. The ride was familiar to me now, anyway. Driving Violet around for all that time had made coming to this house second nature.

The triangular white and glass building loomed out of the darkness, all of its floors dark. I parked the bike across the street and stood studying it for a few minutes, looking for signs of movement.

I knew they were long gone, but it was surprising that the wardens hadn’t torn the place apart yet. Then again, reflecting on the damage to the lab, they might have bigger problems to deal with. Not to mention that Lee and Violet were long gone anyway.

I approached the house. The garage wasn’t locked. Its door slid open easily, and I stepped inside, clicking on my flashlight. Two of Lee’s bikes were still parked in here. I recognized the one that Violet had stolen to visit me, the long scrapes on the side from where it had fallen. It brought back an unwelcome flash of memory—Violet’s lips against mine, her body trembling in my arms. I shoved it aside just as fast, ignoring the feelings that came with it.

Moving toward the back of the garage, I opened the interior door easily. Climbing the steps quietly, I headed up to the first floor. The door leading to the house was locked, but I used my shoulder and broke it down.

I heard a sound, something moving in the darkness, and froze. Reaching slowly, I pulled out my gun. My flashlight beam cut through the darkness slowly as I swung it around, and I heard the sound of something moving again, but I couldn’t find its origin.

“Come out,” I ordered, but nothing happened. Taking a chance, I reached over and hit the light switch on the side of the door. Immediately, the lights flared to life.

Something brown shot across the floor with a yelp, dashing under the table. Slowly, I squatted down. A dog sat under the table, its body quivering. I stowed my weapon.

“Hey,” I murmured, reaching out a hand. The creature reluctantly came out, its head low and ears down. Slowly, it moved over to me, sniffing for danger. After a few seconds, it offered me a lick, its tail slowly wagging. I patted it on the head, trying to recall its name.

“Samuel,” I finally said, remembering Violet had mentioned it once.

The dog gave a small bark, its tail beating against the floor.

With a sigh, I stood up and began to inspect the house. The downstairs was homey, and ultimately empty. There was no computer visible but I tore the place apart anyway, looking for anything, any clue as to where Violet would go or what her plans had been. It seemed unlikely that I would find anything like that just lying around, especially with her betraying Lee so violently, but I had to hope I’d stumble across something that would help me discover her plan.

Nothing presented itself, so I headed upstairs, Samuel following me. I moved left, into one of the bedrooms. The room itself was almost Spartan, with a small bed and wardrobe. The bed had been made. I tore off the bedding and lifted the mattress.

I instantly knew this was Violet’s bed. I caught a whiff of her scent clinging to the sheets. I looked around, memorizing the details of the room. There was nothing here to indicate a long-term stay. In fact, her wardrobe was sparse—only a few outfits in the closet, no shoes, and her costume to obscure her gender.

That was it—there were no personal effects. I contemplated the implications of that. Violet had been a criminal before they had sent her here for this mission. It was reasonable to believe that she had still been treated like a criminal while she had been here, with Lee acting as her jailor. If that were true, then it also stood to reason that was why she’d killed Lee, and Queen Rina. She’d wanted to escape them.

I picked up one of her dresses from the closet. It was the one she had been wearing when I’d invited her to my fight. I ran my finger over the fabric, testing it. It was made of high-quality material. Why would Lee buy her a dress like this if she was a prisoner? It was expensive. It must have been to keep up the ruse: Lee would be expected to clothe his wife in finery.

But still, there was no lock on the door, so there had been nothing to keep her in. There had also been that evening when she had risked her life to come see me, after I had rescued her from Porteque… It was a little odd that she had been given so much freedom, and such nice things, for being a hardened criminal and murderess.

Hm. It didn’t quite add up.

I placed the dress on the bed and moved out of the room, letting the questions dance around in my brain.

I moved to the other bedroom, which wasn’t much larger. This was clearly Lee’s room, and after a quick glance around, I crossed to his desk, turning on his computer. While it booted up, I began to sort through his papers. Most of it was business; related to the lab, a lot of scientific jargon. He had circled the word Benuxupane a few times.

Benuxupane. The new drug that the lab had been working on. It was a point of contention between the two regimes of Patrus and Matrus. Matrus had always supplied the pharmaceuticals for Patrus, in exchange for the produce that Patrus generated. It was one of the things that had allowed the two countries to operate peacefully in the past. But recently, King Maxen had been pushing to become more independent of Matrus, leading to heightened tension between the two countries.

Why was Lee so interested in the manufacture of Benuxupane? His bombing had certainly set the work on it backward, but why was that so important? If Lee had been acting in service of Matrus, then the bombing of the laboratory could have been an attempt to keep Patrus dependent on Matrian drugs. But there was that weird silver egg thing that they had stolen…. What was it and what role did it play in everything?

The computer booted up, beeping for my attention. It was password-protected, but I possessed a file that allowed me to log in as an administrator—given to me by one of my more technologically savvy wardens. I plugged in my handheld and loaded the program. It took only a few seconds, and then I began to search through the files.

There was nothing on the hard drive regarding the bombing, but, luckily, this wasn’t my true goal. I scrolled through the programs and found what I had come here for; clicking on one of them, I held my breath.

A map booted up, showing the streets of Patrus. Good, Lee hadn’t bothered to wipe it. I used the mouse to drag the image around… but found nothing. Then I dragged the map to the east, over Matrus. It took a few seconds for the graphics to catch up to the computer, and I began to scan the streets and buildings. Still nothing.

Tapping my fingers impatiently on the desk, I dragged the map to the river and ran down the length of it. It would be difficult for Violet to hide there for long, but it might buy her some time to figure out her next move… Yet, again, there was nothing.

Frustrated, I grabbed the image, pulling it down so I could see the mountain range. I must have pulled too hard, because the next thing I knew, I was staring at the blinding green canopy of The Green.

And there, buried in its heart, was a little red dot.

I exhaled the breath I hadn’t been aware that I was holding. It was Violet—it had to be. I leaned back, the chair squeaking under my weight. I felt a rush of relief, and frowned. I shouldn’t be relieved to find Violet alive, it made my job much more difficult.

Then again… it would be nice to see her again, if only to shake her and demand answers from her. My stomach knotted at the thought, and I resisted putting my fist through a wall in anger. This girl had no right to make me feel so conflicted. I pushed the feelings aside and focused on the task at hand, knowing that logic, more than any confusing tangle of emotions, would help me now.

I downloaded the program to my portable; my mind already whirling. Violet had taken refuge in The Green. It was, in one sense, smart—the toxic environment and dangerous creatures were a massive deterrent to most people. But it was also risky—if she didn’t have the tools to survive, or the knowledge, she could be dead in a matter of hours.

The program finished downloading, and I unhooked it, slipping it into my pocket. I had an idea how to get up there.

I left the bedroom, my mind already ticking off everything that I would need for The Green. But as I crossed the hallway and headed for the stairs, a sound at the front door halted me.

Peering down, I saw a man entering, stepping past the door I had broken. Etched into the skin beneath his right eye was a dark triangular tattoo. He was a Porteque gang member. The group had kidnapped Violet in an attempt to re-educate her in the proper role of being a woman, and had been planning on murdering her. His eyes shot up to me before I could step back.

We froze for an instant, staring at each other. I reached for my gun and he did the same.

Then two gunshots exploded, shattering the silence of the house.