They didn't sleep that night.
No one said it aloud, but it hung in the space between them like smoke—thick, choking, undeniable. The knowledge that it had found them. That whatever kind of scout had drifted over the canopy and paused, its hum brushing against their skin like an echo from a forgotten machine, knew. And that meant something worse was coming.
Theo sat against the cold dirt wall of the ravine, watching the shadows shift above. His eyes didn't blink often, and the lines at the corners of his mouth had gone rigid. Nova sat cross-legged beside him, sharpening a knife that had already been honed to a razor's edge. Not because it needed it—but because it gave her hands something to do.
Ayen crouched near the ravine's mouth, her eyes locked on the sliver of forest visible through the tangle of leaves and branches. She hadn't spoken since the scan.
And Rell… the boy had curled up behind Nova's back, silent as ever, his head resting on his knees.
Every so often, he'd whisper to himself. Just soft, disjointed phrases.
"They don't speak. They don't need to speak."
"They see everything but don't look."
"If they mark you, they never forget."
Nova didn't tell him to stop. His words were too close to the truth to dismiss.
Theo finally stirred. His voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a blade. "We can't stay."
"We just got here," Ayen replied, voice flat.
"And they'll be here next. If Rell's right, that scan didn't miss us. It tagged us."
Nova nodded slowly. "So what's the plan? We run again? They'll chase."
"Not if we leave a better trail," Theo said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a heat-stick flare, one of the last few they had. "We make it look like we're heading east—leave heat signatures, some movement. Then we loop back and go west, into the mountains."
Ayen raised an eyebrow. "You're betting on them following bait instead of blood?"
Theo looked at her. "We don't have better options."
Rell spoke then, quietly. "The mountains won't save you."
They all turned.
He looked up at them, eyes hollow. "That's where they take people."
Nova's voice was gentle. "What do you mean?"
"They don't kill everyone. Some they take. The ones who are… different. People who glitch. Or remember things that aren't in the world anymore." His eyes locked on Theo then. "Like you."
Theo's blood ran cold.
Ayen stepped closer. "What kind of people?"
Rell hugged his knees tighter. "People who came back wrong."
Silence settled over them. Nova broke it. "Theo isn't wrong."
Rell looked away. "That's what they all say."
Theo stared into the dirt. "I don't know what they did to me. I only know I'm not the same anymore. But that doesn't mean I'll let them win."
Nova reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "None of us will."
There was a long pause before Rell whispered, "Then we should move now. Before they send the Collector."
"The what?" Ayen asked.
"The one that comes after the mark," Rell said. "It doesn't hum. It doesn't scan. It just… follows. You never hear it coming until it's already inside your thoughts."
Nova's skin prickled. "That's not a machine."
"It used to be."
They moved.
No fire. No light. Every step wrapped in caution. Theo led the way, with Nova carrying Rell again, and Ayen covering the rear. The flare was triggered and tossed down a slope in the opposite direction, bouncing off stone and vanishing into the darkness with a hiss of heat.
They weaved through thick brush and low-hanging branches, navigating by starlight and instinct. The land tilted upward—hills becoming cliffs, paths turning to ridgelines. Their legs burned, lungs scratched from the cold, dry air. But no one complained.
Hours passed.
When they finally reached a cave half-buried in the roots of an ancient tree, they slipped inside, breathless and spent. The cave was shallow but dry. The walls bore faded carvings—symbols no one could read anymore.
Theo slumped against the rock. "We hold here for now."
Nova placed Rell down gently. He was shivering. She wrapped a cloak around him and knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"
He didn't answer at first. Then, in a voice as thin as paper, he said, "They're close."
Nova's heart sank. "How do you know?"
"I can hear them… in the space between sounds."
Ayen looked out into the dark. "Then we only have one shot."
Theo met her gaze. "We make it count."
Outside, the wind stirred—and beneath it, something moved.