Not dead. Nadira’s words stabbed at me.

"Come on." She scampered out of bed, throwing her clothes on.

“You probably want to dress, right? No reason to scare Loree."

By the time I dressed and grabbed my knives, she was already in Loree’s room, sorting through vials and tossing them into the pillowcase.

"When we get out of here, I'm always going to carry one of these. Who knew how useful it would be?"

Loree looked at me, my shock mirrored on her face. "Do you know what's going on?" she mouthed.

I shook my head. Nadira couldn’t be right. I'd been so worried about my own tenuous grasp on sanity, had I missed signs of her spiraling out of control? I put my hand on her arm as she reached for the injector.

"What's that for?" I tried to keep my voice light but wasn’t sure it would've mattered. Her focus was all-consuming.

"I really need another one of these. Next time we’re in the storage closet, let’s see if we can find a second. Or maybe in the cargo bay. I don't like leaving Loree without one.” She whirled. "Do you need a top up?"

Loree shook her head. "I'm good. I, umm, checked over those earpieces you left while you were... occupied."

I glanced at her, then shrugged. We hadn't made much of an attempt to be quiet and it wasn't really her business. But she was Nadira’s friend, so I was glad there wouldn't be complications on that front.

Loree held the case out to me. "They work the way you thought. They're connected to each other and the relay unit is in the case itself. They’re charged up now.”

Nadira grabbed one, stared at it. “How does it work?”

I took it from her and slid it in my ear. “Just like that. But why do we need one now?”

She cocked her head at me like I had obviously missed something. “Because we need to go to your brothers’ tanks. I'm telling you, they're alive in there.”

“That's not possible.”

Her jaw set. “You have two options. One: they’re alive and waiting for you to rescue them. Two: they’re dead.”

I flinched at the steel in her voice. The difference between the clear-eyed, driven doctor and the soft woman I'd held as she shattered in my arms took my brain a minute to wrap around.

“If I'm right, and they’re alive, you'll have them back. Isn't that what you want?”

I nodded, and she continued, relentless. “And if you're right, then we've just wasted a trip. Isn't the chance worth the trouble?”

I leaned against the door frame. If they were alive...

She came up, her eyes softer now. “You have to understand. I don't know what was done to them. I don't know if I can save all of them.”

I forced my voice to work. “But you think some of them?”

She nodded. “I do. Let's go.”

I headed for the hallway, then stopped. "We can't. The Hunters are out."

Nadira drummed her fingers on the wall. "Can we avoid them? We don't know how much time we have. Either until we reach the compound, or until we get an answer from our distress signal.”

I could avoid them, but the thought of taking her out there while the Hunters were on the prowl turned my blood to ice.

She slipped her hand into mine, the pillow sack slung over her shoulder. “I'll do whatever you say, and I'll try not to hit you with a clothes rod.”

Loree laughed from the bed. “You have so many things to tell me about, girl.”

Nadira looked over her shoulder and winked.

“Eeww. Not those kinds of things." Loree slipped one of the other commlinks into her ear and nodded. “Let me know what you find out there. I'll keep an eye out for a response to the call.”

We stayed silent as we ghosted through the corridors. Twice I caught the scent of Hunters, and we waited in the shadows until they passed.

The urge to spring out, to destroy every last one of them burned through my veins. But Nadira needed me to keep her safe. And if she was right…

Once we reached the chamber that held my brothers’ bodies, I broke silence.

“How are you sure they’re alive?”

“Look.” She pointed to the slow movement of Sander’s arm as it floated in the blue gel.

“It’s not just floating, that gel is circulating. The noise even I can hear is a pump. That’s why these tanks are different than the others.”

She laid out her small supplies and circled the tanks. “I think these are stasis chambers, just different than anything I’ve seen before.”

I thought of the failed experiments we’d stumbled across. I hadn’t looked at those cylinders, hadn’t wanted to. But she was right, these were different.

“Do it. Wake them up.”

Nadira put her hands on my chest. “Ronan, I’ll try, but you need to understand. I don’t know how this tech works. I’m sure it’s not original to the ship, so Loree can’t help.” She swallowed. “It might not go well, especially for the first one.”

Void. Another choice.

Having them fight alongside me, knowing I wasn’t the last of Doc’s vision, the last of our Pack.

But first, I’d have to choose. Who lived, and who possibly died for real.

I walked down the row, let myself remember who they’d been before the attack.

“Aeden. Xander. Lorcan. Quinn. Geir. Hakon.”

All worth saving. None worth risking, even if a few of them had been a pain in my ass.

“Just start. It’s worth it.”

She nodded. “It might take a while.”

“I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.”

I prowled the room, watching helplessly as she studied the containers until I couldn’t stand it anymore. "What are you doing?"

“Trying to get them out of this alive. Look, I can answer questions, or I can focus. Pick.”

Fair enough. I didn't ask for her opinions when I was fighting.

I went back to my patrol. I’d checked the length of the hallway four times before I heard her satisfied hum.

"There we go." As she hit the keys, with a gurgling sound the gel drained from Xander’s tank.

“Open, open.” She mashed the other buttons, swearing. “I need in.”

I tore across the room, ready to rip the lid off, when slowly the cover rose.

"Can you take him out for me?”

I dragged his limp body to the floor, grimly aware there was no life under my hands. Her bet had been wrong, but maybe it was better for them to be out of the tanks, anyway.

"Scoot!" I jumped back as she jabbed the injector into his arm, reloaded it with a different vial and hit him again.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered.

Then, with a wracking cough, Xander shuddered, hacking out a glob of the blue gel. Nadira pounded his back while I stared in shock.

He was alive.

They were all alive.

Xander started to push away from Nadira, but, whatever had been done to him, his muscles were still weak.

I knelt next to her, my heart shaking in my chest.

"Stay down, kid,” I ordered, my voice gruff even to my own ears. “She's like Doc but maybe a little less cranky. Don't cross her.”

I rocked back onto my heels, watching as she checked his vitals.

Satisfied that he was stable, she moved to the next chamber, when a scream rang in my ear.

“Loree, report,” I snapped.

Nadira whirled from the tank, her face pale. “What is it?”

I waved her to silence, straining to listen.

“The Hunters, they found us. I think they--” and then Loree broke off.

Nadira leaned against the next tank, hands shaking, waiting to hear what had happened.

Xander sprawled on the floor, his breathing already becoming even, regular. The other tanks lay waiting.

“I think the Hunters decided to test that door.”

Nadira ran across the room. “I'll take care of them, go!”

I crushed her to me, kissed her, and then ran like a man with hope behind and hell before him.