“What’s going on?” an authoritative voice asked, cutting through the noise.

I finally let myself relax against the floor as Doctor Fearson rushed over to me, her footsteps quick and light. She looked calm and in control as she knelt down next to me.

I answered the questions she threw at me as she checked me over, my mind on Siro. How much time would she need to get to a busier street? How long before she got out of this area?

“Get her into the lab,” Fearson snapped to Kal as she stood up.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look, obviously not liking the order or the tone. I didn’t know where the doctor figured into the hierarchy, but Kal at least didn’t appreciate it.

Still, he complied, crouching down to pick me up in his arms with more efficiency than gentleness. No big surprise there.

He carried me into the lab and set me down on the exam table that I’d seen before but hadn’t really spent time on yet. I didn’t particularly want to be there now, either, especially not after Fearson began to run a battery of tests.

I wanted to just ignore her, but I needed to play this ruse as long as possible. The longer I kept them from figuring out the truth, the longer Siro had to escape.

As she poked and prodded me, I pictured Siro getting farther and farther away with a deep sense of satisfaction. The longer this went on, the more certain I got that she was gone.

I’d gotten her out.

At this point, I trusted her to have run far enough away, to have disappeared into the crowd I’d observed in the more traveled sections of the city dome. It was out of my hands now. She had Sven’s contact information. I was confident that she was smart enough and resourceful enough to figure out a way to send him a message.

It was almost a half an hour after I’d initially faked the siezure that I saw Pele leave the lab. Immediately, I knew where he was going. He was getting a tray ready for Siro.

This was it. I was about to be found out. I braced myself, my heart rate increasing. This wasn’t going to go over well.

It didn’t take long to figure out he’d realized something was wrong. I heard yelling and the sound of a door being opened.

“What do you mean she’s not there!” I heard Eli roar. “You were supposed to be guarding them! That was your only job!”

I heard Pele’s tight voice come out after a beat of silence. “Convenient that Adara just had a seizure, don’t you think?” he pointed out in a cool voice. “What a coincidence.”

Pele did not take kindly to being yelled at. But Eli didn’t seem to care or maybe he just didn’t pick up on it. I was betting on the latter. If he wasn’t careful, someone might knock some sense into him.

I wasn’t the only one who heard the conversation out there. They were holding it at a decibel level that ensured everyone here could listen in, including Fearson.

She stopped what she was doing and simply stared at me. She looked bemused, like she didn’t know what to make of this new development.

Before she could say anything, Eli burst into the room. He focused on me right away, glaring at me, his face red with anger.

“You bitch,” Eli spit out in a low voice, walking closer. “Did you think you could make a fool out of me?” he demanded.

“I think I already did,” I said.

It just popped out. Stupid.

He wasn’t the most physically fit person, but a punch from any grown man hurts, something I could attest to.

I could have stopped it, could have blocked the blow or dodged it before it reached me, but that would likely have made the situation worse.

Eli would respond to the perceived embarrassment well. I knew his kind. He’d get even angrier and feel like he’d have to make an even harsher point to save face. That meant I might end up getting hurt even worse.

All of that went through my brain as he wound up for the punch and I stayed in position. Not an easy task when my body was screaming at me to move. I needed to just hold on now, hold on until Siro was able to get help, and not making waves now was my best bet in that case.

I needed to get back to Sven, so I buried my anger, stuffed it way down deep where it wouldn’t show in my face as I raised my head up again, wiping the drop of warm blood that leaked from my mouth.

My lip was split. A punch like that could have done a lot more damage if he knew what he was doing, so I was lucky.

Eli was glaring at me, his hands in fists at his sides, his round face closely resembling a tomato at this point. A splotchy, angry one.

He didn’t look away from me as he barked out orders to Pele and Kal. “Get everyone out looking for her right now! I want her found immediately. Do you understand?”

There were murmurs of agreement as they left the room to get the orders to everyone.

Eli looked over at Dr. Fearson, who had a neutral expression on her face. She did not seem particularly angry about the fact that I’d been faking it, though she didn’t look like her usual chipper self, either.

To top it off, I’d seen the look of derision on her face when she looked at Eli before she smoothed out her expression.

Interesting.

Everyone here was risking a lot, but it didn’t seem like they loved Eli all that much.

“Take the next batch,” he ordered, looking over at me again. “You’re going to regret this.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice as if that would intimidate me more. It just made his double chin more prominent. “I guarantee it.”

With one last glare at me, he stepped out of the room, the cloud of his rage exiting with him.

“That wasn’t the smartest thing you could have done,” Fearson remarked as she gathered everything she needed. “But that isn’t my problem.”

It was much too soon to take more blood from me, but nobody was asking my opinion.

I pressed my lips together in a thin line, looking straight ahead as she pricked me once again with that hated needle.

Come on, Siro. I’m counting on you.