Stop his heart.

Throw him through the glass wall.

The ideas keep on coming, each a little more gruesome than the last.

STOP! I can't think!

". . . happens sometimes. Most of the time, actually. Her brain had trouble . . . allocating space . . . for the new guy. She had to . . . shut down for a while."

I doubt Lucas can tell that Deo is lying. He also might not realize that Deo's having a very hard time controlling his own temper, something that's clear to me not only from the sound of Deo's voice, but also from the way his arm is shaking.

"And you hitting her sure as hell isn't helping, so just-"

"I'm okay." I open my eyes before Deo can finish his sentence. Lucas might do more than tase him.

When I speak, Lucas takes a step back. There's a touch of fear in his eyes that I haven't seen before.

I like it. And so do my resident Furies.

His hand slides inside the jacket he's wearing as he moves away, making me think that Lucas might have a little sixth sense of his own. He doesn't actually draw the gun. But he keeps his hand there, at the same spot where Aaron wore the holster he showed me that night at the townhouse.

"Did you pick him up? The deaf-and-dumb guy?"

"Will? Yeah. Not deaf. Just mute."

Lucas gives me a who-cares look. "So . . . you know what I'm thinkin' now?"

"You're thinking you'd like to shoot both of us and be done with it. But I didn't need Will's gift to figure that out."

Deo's arm is still around me, and it's hard to catch a breath. "It's okay, D. You can relax."

"I am relaxed." His arm loosens, but he doesn't step away from me. And given that he's watched me keel over twice in the past half hour, that's probably not a bad idea.

Then I get a flash. It's visual, like a written note: DON'T LIKE THIS.

THEY NEED TO HURRY.

I'm confused momentarily, until I realize Will must be feeding me Lucas's thoughts, the way he jotted down thoughts he swiped from people in the cafeteria. It's nothing I couldn't have guessed-Lucas glanced toward the door a few seconds ago. I suspect most of Lucas's thoughts are pretty obvious. He's about as deep as a puddle in the middle of a drought. But I can definitely see where this ability could come in handy.

Wait. Will said THEY. Cregg and Timmons? Cregg and Dacia? Someone else?

There's a pause, and the answer comes from Jaden, not Will.

Not sure. He sees it as words not . . . full thoughts.

That's okay. Just . . . let me know if you get anything else from- I stop midthought, startled by a loud sneeze. It's Lucas. A second sneeze, even stronger, follows, then a third. Both hands instinctively fly to his face.

The very instant they do, I discover that I'm no more in control of the three Furies in my head than Lucas is of his body right now.

Deo steps away from me, back toward the wall.

Lucas stumbles forward as two more gargantuan sneezes hit him.

It still feels like I'm at the front, like I'm in control mentally, but I'm physically unable to pull my eyes away from Lucas. And I hear laughter, even though I don't think I'm actually laughing. It's just echoing in my head.

Either way, it scares me. Because whatever is going on with Lucas right now, they're doing it. I'm doing it.

Lucas's hand gropes for his holster, but before he can grab the gun another sneeze hits, this one so violent that it drives him to his knees. A thin line of blood runs from one nostril.

I hear the plink of metal against metal behind me, then a thick spray of white dust hits Lucas square in the face. He keeps sneezing. I can't tell if the Furies are doing it or if it's from the fire extinguisher. My guess would be the Furies, because I still can't move, still can't look away from his face.

"Get his badge!" Deo screams. He pushes me forward as the spray begins to sputter out.

A burst of anger surges through me, directed not at Lucas, but at Deo for pushing me. I turn back and snatch the red canister from his hands.

"Ne chipayte mene!" The words fly out of my mouth before I can mentally translate. Don't touch me.

Deo raises his arms and steps back. "Anna?"

My hands are brandishing the canister like a weapon. The other voices are talking now, and whoever the hell has control of my hands is distracted just long enough for me to shove her backward and spin around to face Lucas.

Who is still coughing, still trying to catch his breath, and very clearly reaching for his gun.

I swing the metal canister with every bit of force I can muster straight toward Lucas's temple. His head snaps to one side. Before he can slump to the floor, I swing back, in the opposite direction. This time, the bottom of the canister connects directly with his forehead and the skin splits.

Deo rushes toward Lucas and kicks him over. One of the security bracelets is in his back pocket.

I stand there, frozen, with the canister lifted over my head, remembering how frightened I was back in my room. Imagining how it would feel to bash Lucas again. And again. The scariest thing is that I'm pretty sure this time, it's all me.

"Anna?" Deo's voice is hesitant. He looks at me, a question in his eyes. "Are you okay? Because we need to go."

I toss the canister onto a cot and follow Deo to the door. He waves the bracelet at the panel, but the door opens before Deo's hand even touches the knob.

Cregg stares past me to where Lucas lies on the floor. A look of disgust passes over his face as he reaches inside his jacket. He drops the cell phone he was holding into his breast pocket, then reaches toward what I'm positive is a holster.

Damn it! Why didn't you grab Lucas's gun?

It's not one of the hitchers this time. Just me, yelling at me. And yes, I was distracted by way too many voices in my head, but it didn't even occur to me to grab the gun. I totally suck at this.

When I look at Deo however, I discover that he does not suck at this. He's holding Lucas's badge in one hand and Lucas's gun in the other.

"Hands where I can see them!" Definitely not a kid anymore, although his voice does crack the tiniest bit when he yells, "Drop your ID onto the floor and kick it toward Anna."

Cregg does as he's told. "The lab is being monitored. There are dozens of employees in this building. You've got about thirty seconds before-"

"Shut up!" Deo says.

I scoop up the bracelet. "He's got a gun, D."

"I know. Down on the floor," Deo tells Cregg. "Slowly."

As Cregg drops to his knees, Jaden speaks up.

He's lying about the monitors. Yes, there are dozens of employees in The Warren, but only ten who work the Highside, the side where you were staying. That's where they place the newbies and the . . . problem children. And only six of the workers know what goes on in this lab. Those six include Lucas and Dacia. All of the others believe we were transferred, except for- Daniel and Ashley. Yeah, I know.

Deo waves the gun at Cregg. "Now lie on your stomach and put your hands behind your head. If you move at all, I will shoot you. Anna, take his gun."

Cregg complies with Deo's order, taking a deep breath as he stretches out on the tile. Once he's down, I put a foot on the small of his back and tug at Cregg's jacket to expose the gun. I take it, but as I stand back up, I catch a glimpse of his face, eyes closed, his expression almost serene.

Dej vu hits me, but it's not one of Jaden's flashes. It's a Molly memory of Cregg sitting in the cabin, legs crossed, as she snipped off her own finger.

"Deo, watch out!"

When I look up, Deo has the muzzle of the gun flush against his right temple. His hand is shaking, and his mouth simply opens and closes for a few seconds, like he can't get any sound out. Then he croaks, "Move away. Or I'll do it. I really will."

The words may be coming from Deo's mouth, but I have no doubt that they are Cregg's. I do as he says.

"Now, slide the gun toward me."

I don't even consider taking the command literally and sliding the gun toward Deo. I know exactly what he means.

Cregg lies there, hands behind his head, not moving. His eyes are mostly closed, just tiny slits, so I don't know if he can see me. If I pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, would it buy Deo enough time to move the gun from his head? Or would there be an instant chain reaction? Boom-boom. Two guns, two bullets, two bodies.

There's a very good chance of the latter, I think. And I won't risk it.

I bend down to slide the gun across the floor, but a rumble of protest is building inside me. This time it's not only the Furies. Will's voice is in the mix as well.

SHOOT THE SON OF A BITCH. YOU'LL SAVE WAY MORE THAN ONE LIFE.

Will is moving forward now, trying to take control. I shove the gun toward Cregg so hard that it bounces into his shoulder. For a moment, I'm terrified that I've startled him, that the gun Deo has pressed against his head will go off.

STUPID MOVE. HE'LL MAKE THE KID PULL THE TRIGGER ANYWAY. YOU WATCH.

The sick feeling in my stomach says that Will is probably right. Cregg told Lucas not to harm me because I could be of value. I think that probably still holds true. I've passed his tests after all. But Deo? It's a pretty safe bet that Cregg considers him completely and totally expendable.

Will isn't the only one who's angry. I don't recognize many of the words the Furies are using, although idiot seems to be the same in several languages. And even though I'm still at the front, my eyes are now locked on Cregg the same way they were locked on Lucas a few minutes ago.

Not on his head. On his chest.

The popping sound of the explosion is almost drowned out by Cregg's scream, a high-pitched shriek. His suit jacket catches fire almost instantly. As he rolls onto his back to escape the flame, a gun goes off.

My head whips around to Deo, who's still standing, his face pale. He's holding the gun, but it's pointed toward the glass wall now. Definitely not regular glass, because it didn't shatter at all, despite the brand-new hole about five feet from the floor.

Deo's shock breaks suddenly. He lets out an anguished noise, then points his gun at Cregg, who's on his back, still screaming. Deo fires, then turns and fires at Lucas, who is still right where we left him.

I don't know if Deo hits either target. Cregg is writhing on the floor, his shirt in flames. He makes a whimpering, almost mewling sound as he claws at the black cell phone case adhered to his chest. His pants are on fire too, but I guess the roll part of stop, drop, and roll is hard to implement when you've got a flaming cell phone stuck to your chest.

"Let's go!" I yell, over the protest of most of my hitchers. I'm pretty sure Jaden will back me, but the rest of them want me to snatch the gun from Deo and finish both Cregg and Lucas. But that wouldn't be self-defense, and it wouldn't be defending someone else. It would be murder. Probably justifiable murder, but regardless, I don't want that on my conscience. I don't want it on Deo's conscience, either.

We need to run. Most importantly, I need to run. If I'm moving, it will be easier to stay in control, to keep my head to myself.

I take off through the open lab door. Deo seems torn, but he follows, slamming the door behind him. I wave Cregg's ID at the access panel in the corridor, and the door opens to reveal the empty monitoring station across the hall.

Dacia Badea stands a few steps in front of us, a shocked expression on her face. When Deo raises the gun, she doesn't even seem to notice. Her focus is on the window, through which she can see Lucas, collapsed on the floor. She shoves me aside with her elbow and swipes her arm at the entrance to the lab.

SHOOT HER!.

The Furies are screaming too, and it's all I can do to maintain control. I reach out and grab the back of her shirt as she opens the door.

"Give me your ID or Deo will shoot."

From the expression in Dacia's eyes, I think this is the first time that Deo's gun even registers. She calls me something I can't translate, strips the security bracelet from her wrist, and hurls it toward my face as she yanks out of my grasp. Cregg calls out to her, but she doesn't spare him a glance in her rush to get to Lucas.

Before I can close the door, my hands freeze. I feel a whoosh as Oksana and the other two women leave. There's the briefest hesitation, then Will follows.

It's different from all of the other times that hitchers left. Not like they're moving on, but more like they're simply moving the hell out. Like they'd rather stay here than stay with me.

And I'm perfectly okay with that.

"What's wrong?" Deo asks.

"Nothing." I slam the door and lean against it for a second to get my bearings. "Let's go."

Even though we run at full speed, the dark, cold corridor seems longer heading back than it did when I was walking this way with Cregg and Lucas last night. Maybe it's because every muscle is tense, waiting for an alarm to go off, or for us to encounter one of the guards. We have all three bracelets, so I doubt Cregg and the others can get out on their own, but that won't stop them from sounding an alarm. For that matter, if someone didn't find a way to put Cregg out, his flaming body might trigger a fire alarm all by itself.

The tunnel starts to tilt upward now, and the lights are getting brighter. I reach the door before Deo does and wave Cregg's bracelet again, and then we're in the hallway, just a few doors down from my room.

As we pass, I hear a door open behind us. It's Ashley.

"Oh, thank God! How did you . . . ?" A quick shake of her head as she pulls her phone out. "Never mind. I have to tell Daniel and the others to abort." She looks down at Cregg's ID in my hand. "That should work on the elevators. Do you know where they are?"

Daniel and the others? But there's no time to ask. "Yes, I do."

"Then go. Get out of here!"

I'm terrified that Timmons will be in his cubicle when we reach the monitoring station. But it's as empty as the rest of the Highside.

Well, except for Room 81. The noise starts when we're a few yards from the door.

thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump RUN RUN RUN, ANNA.

I hurry past, but then stop and look back at the door. Deo halts too when he realizes I'm not next to him.

"What?"

"You don't hear that?"

"Hear what?