The moment we locked the rifle and switchblade in the weapons storage, a lilting alto spilled through hidden speakers, accompanied by a strumming guitar. 

"Freedom, freedom at last. Isn't there such joy in letting past be past? Why look over shoulders when the future's left to be? Forget all of your troubles and be free! Be free! Forget all of your troubles and be free."

Dread swamped my gut as Stogg's words echoed in my mind. Freedom is a fiction. Could he have been talking about the Refuge? But after spending years in a cell, how would he know more than anyone else?

Ivogg grinned and lifted his shoulders to his ears several times. "Well, there is our signal for curfew! Rekkan, you can accompany me to the Northern dormitory, and Zafaru, Zhina will bring you to the Southie corridors."

I hesitated, eyes on Rekkan. He pinched the platinum keycard between his fingers—still only feet from the weapons locker.

"Zafaru?" His eyes and voice, both so attentive, did funny things to my stomach. "Is something wrong? We can still turn back. We can return to the fortress."

The words appealed to me more than I was willing to admit, but I breathed an unconvincing laugh. "It's fine. You already promised Fennikk we would stay."

His exhale caught on his throat, almost vocalized. "That doesn't mean anything if you don't feel safe. Sleeping in opposite corridors, I won't be able to protect you."

"Southies have no reason to hurt me."

"You think they need a reason?"

Indignation replaced trepidation. "You know what I think? I think you're just worried about how you'll sleep without me."

He shifted his jaw forward and back. "I slept alone for eight years. Why would I worry about five days?"

I cocked my head. "So you won't miss me?"

Ivogg stepped toward us and wagged a finger in the air. "I hate to interrupt, but staying out past curfew is a big no-no! It's really time to—"

"Quiet," said Rekkan, lifting a palm toward Ivogg without looking away from me.

Ivogg shrank back and withdrew his finger. "Alrighty then."

Rekkan's eyes darted between mine. "Will... will you miss me?"

I met his gaze head-on. "Yes."

His lips twitched. "Ah. Well, I might miss you too."

"Might?"

He plucked my hand from his forearm and drew it to his lips, pressing a slow kiss to my knuckles. "Yep." He flipped my palm to kiss the inside of my wrist. "I might, but..." He tugged my wrist to spin me around and unzipped my backpack. "I'm keeping Fluffy."

He pulled out Fluffy's jar and transferred it to his own pack.

I huffed a disbelieving laugh. "You bastard."

"Hmm." His gaze grew serious. "Lock your door before you sleep."

I shook my head at him. "Rekkan, I'll be fine."

"And don't try to help anyone." He tapped my nose, lifting one severe eyebrow. "Especially not any creepy babies."

I swatted away his hand. "Rekkan! That was one time."

He cracked a smile. "Alright, alright. I'll see you at breakfast."

And Ether, I couldn't help but return that crooked smile. I snaked both hands around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. His lips against mine were soft, warm, and reassuring, the perfect compromise between eagerness and restraint. Though our lips soon parted, my smile remained.

I continued smiling as I watched Rekkan follow a chattering Doctor Ivogg.

I smiled as I trailed Doctor Zhina.

But when we reached the Southie corridor, my smile faded.

At least two hundred Southies lined the walls, heads tipped back and eyes narrowed. A woman widened her stance and stared us down. A small boy folded bony arms over his puffed chest. A gaunt man hooked mutilated lips in a sneer, scar wriggling up to his dissected eyebrow.

Scanning the rows of flashing green eyes, a knot swelled in my chest and crawled up to burn the back of my eyes. Ochre skin and green eyes clearly did not provide sufficient reason to trust me. Did they not care that I ended the Implant Era? Was Zhina the only Southie who actually wanted me here?

Only one elderly man greeted us. His white hair tufted like a shedding cat, and his dry voice rattled. "Hello, Zhina. Welcome, Zafaru."

Zhina nodded at the man. "That's Doctor Vizan; he has the pleasure of running the infirmary here."

He raised thinning white brows. "Such a pleasure."

Ignoring the clear disdain in his voice, Zhina shot me a gap-toothed smile. "And right around that corner, we'll find the private rooms. As Doctor Ivogg mentioned, each family unit receives their own..."

Zhina continued talking, but my mind drifted. Scanning the rows of flashing green eyes, a knot swelled in my chest and crawled up to burn the back of my eyes. I was finally reuniting with the surviving Southies, and I didn't know any of them.

Everyone I had known was dead.

It seemed most of the Sentries were dead too. Ivogg, Mekkar, and Zhina were here, but my mother was long gone, and the other three...

"Zhina," I said, interrupting her, "Where are the other three Sentries?"

"Other three?"

"There are supposed to be Seven Sentries. My mother, you, Ivogg, Mekkar, and who else?"

She pursed her lips and swung a glance around us. Her chipper voice strained at the edges, like a balloon filled with too much air. "Why don't I show you to your room first?"

Whispers followed us down the corridor, and eyes tickled the back of my neck. We wound down a hallway lined by a series of doors with blinking red lights. Zhina stopped in front of one door and handed me a blue keycard.

I swiped the card over the red light, and the door swung open. A twin-sized bed with a steel frame covered the left third of the room, and a particle board desk, sleek black chair, and dresser pressed up against the right wall.

"It's not much," said Zhina, "But it is your own private space. And after Integration, we'll bring in a double-bed for you and Rekkan." She smiled at me, but I read the plea in the crinkle of her eyes. Drop the question.

I had never been good at dropping questions.

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. "Tell me about the other three Sentries. Why are they a secret?"

Zhina breathed out a sigh, visibly deflating. "Not a secret, exactly... just a sensitive topic. You see, Serigg and Arakko both perished during the Implant Era."

"Serigg? Mekkar's wife was one of the Seven Sentries?"

She nodded. "They joined the Peace Project together. For a time, all seven of us worked together at the Northern Headquarters."

My brow furrowed. "The Noble Forces allowed Southies at their Headquarters?"

"The three Southie sentries, yes. The four Northern sentries convinced the Noble Forces to allow us access to their facilities. But Mekkar convinced Serigg to leave the facility with him shortly after the Implant Era began."

Her eyes dropped, and she picked a piece of fuzz from her jeans. "And the next we heard, Serigg had been killed by Implanted. Quite horrific, by Mekkar's account. They ripped off her face first and..."

She stared at the piece of fuzz, now pinched tight between her fingers. Shaking herself, she released the fuzz. "Anyway, Mekkar came out unscathed, which infuriated some. They say he should have fought harder to save her."

Her tone hinted at something more—something she would not say aloud. I remembered Mekkar's slumped shoulders as he traced the script on his wedding bracelet. Sorrow? Guilt? Or an act?

I swallowed to wet my dry throat. "And Arakko?"

"Disappeared after a falling out with the remaining sentries a few years ago. His body was later found half-eaten by Implanted. Not our fault he went off by himself, but Uzmed still blamed us."

"Uzmed?"

"The seventh sentry. He's been a thorn in our sides from the start, and since Arakko died, he has been impossible to reason with."

"Where is he now?"

A smile sharp enough to cut. "Oh, he's here. We just passed him in the corridor. He won't help us anymore, but he won't leave us alone either."

I ran through the line-up of faces in my mind. Which of those sneers belonged to a man who had once known my mother?

Before I could ask more, Zhina waddled out the door. "Well, I'll leave you to settle in now. See you in the morning, Zafaru!"

She closed the door behind her. I sank down to sit on the bed, pulled off my backpack, and slid out my mother's book. Cracking the book open to the least-worn pages at the start, I re-read the passage about the Sentries.

Nothing about any tensions among the group. No secret details about the Peace Project. Only one part stood out to me: To forge a path toward unity, the selected Sentries comprised half Southies and half Northerners.

Half of seven?

Four Northerners and three Southies was approximately half, but my mother had never been one to approximate. Was one Southie missing from the count? Or had a Northerner been added?

A distant sound interrupted my thoughts—a rhythmic, metallic scraping. I stiffened and dropped the book beside me. If the weapons were all locked in storage, what was making that sound?

Rekkan's warning played through my mind, and I imagined his withering scowl. But he said he thought I could prevent the war. I couldn't do that by hunkering down and staying safe.

"I'm not helping a creepy baby," I told the angry Rekkan in my mind. "I'm just going to check out that sound and then come right back to bed."

Holding my keycard, I slipped out the door.

I crept toward the sound, veering off down a narrow corridor. Behind a door labeled "Storage," metal screeched, and voices murmured. Holding my breath, I shuffled forward and pressed my ear to the door.

"...enough for tonight?"

"We'd better be ready before..."

"...five days, we'll need every knife we can get."

The keycard slipped from my fingers and clattered to the ground.

The voices stopped, and then one spoke louder than the previous ones: "Did you hear that? I think someone is outside the door."

My muscles tensed, expelling the air from my lungs. Leather boots crackled, and footsteps approached the door. I edged one heel back, then the other. Should I make a run for it? But that would only make it harder to feign ignorance if they caught me.

My thoughts ground to dust as the door burst open. A hand yanked me inside. My back smacked the wall.

And metal pricked my neck.

BONUS: I created a rendition of the "Freedom" song playing on the loudspeakers. Check out the inline comment if you want to hear it (also posted inline next to the lyrics above).