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"Wow," I murmur "How"

"I worked on a system like this when I was in the military That’s where I first met Caden’s father and the General We’re able to collect intel and use it to help carriers, gather supplies, prevent raids"

But it can’t protect fro to help save Tabatha and the others

I point to one of the headphones "Can I listen?"

Nodding, he helpsthe headphones on ibberish that I don’t entirely understand, ents alike, when Caden finds me half an hour later His face is white and his ?" I de to the various snippets of conversations broadcasting between patrols in the area I pull the headphones off my ears and hand them to Terrence

Caden doesn’t answer, just shoots Terrence a dark look and hauls me off to his room Once inside, he releases my hand and faces aze, remind me instantly that there’s a killer out there Not just a carrier who could kill or ht kill There’s no supposition to this And now I understand why he keptco to protect me

He motions with his hand "He’s locked in here with us"

I nod, sobering

"Until we capture hioing to happen to usthat we have ti as he ss "That you can have so to prove that to you" His voice fades then and I step forward, touching his cheek and ignoring the pinch near et it Okay?" I s his lips that have becoet rid of his frown When that doesn’t work, I kiss hi him so scared for me I prefer him mad to that, and that’s when I realize his happiness has become as important as my own

I should have known Caden would come up with a plan He’s not a leader by default Sure, his father got the ship up and running, but Caden’s not the kind of guy to stand by and watch as the world moves past him

My father always used to complain about my brother’s lack of ae He said there were doers in life, and Mitchell wasn’t one of theree with Dad’s low opinion of orization always stuck in my mind

Well, Caden is, unquestionably, a doer

When Terrence knocks on our door one night after dinner, I can tell this is no random visit

"We’re all set," Terrence says

Caden nods I rise fro one of his books

"Hey," I greet, looking between the two of therab me I trust Caden, but that doesn’t mean I trust the reality we live in I cross my arms and look between the two of them "What’s up?"

"We came up with a plan to catch our rat," Caden explains