Using the landline at the coach station, Kuwin called the library. It took two tries for an attendant to pick up and state that Osa had left but hadn't returned yet. Considering the length of the walk from the mess hall to the coach station, it was possible that getting back to the library would take longer.

Kuwin waited another five minutes then went to make the call again as Vayi peeped out to the coach.

Vayi grimaced.

"What is it?" Kuwin asked as soon as he saw the frown on Vayi's face.

"The driver isn't there."

"Is the coach there?"

"Yes, but it's still toppled."

Kuwin checked and sure enough, the coach was on its side, pulled off the tracks, like the driver was still doing maintenance. They'd been gone a while. The coach couldn't have taken that long to cool off and be serviced.

"Where is the driver?" Kuwin asked the station attendant.

The attendant shrugged.

Vayi grabbed the man's hand, pressing it down to his small desk as the man winced. "I'm going to need you to give him a more definitive answer."

"Vayi stop," Kuwin said, pulling him back.

"If he won't say where she is, we have to go," Vayi said.

"We can't leave without her."

"Come. We'll set the coach back on the tracks and-"

"You can't do that," the attendant said, getting to his feet.

Hissing, Vayi grabbed the man by his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. As the man's body went limp, Kuwin squealed, running to check if he was still alive.

"Let's go."

"No," Kuwin said, checking the attendant's pulse. It was weak but still there. "We agreed, Vayi. No violence around me."

"It seems like you don't understand what's happening around you."

"You're assuming the worst."

"I'd rather be wrong behind Usobo borders. You can't be here. Your family sent me to protect you. We can call Osa later. Now, we have to go."

Kuwin had never seen Vayi so scared. He always seemed to be over everything, even when Kuwin was going through a phase and throwing tantrums when they first met. Vayi had handled it as if he expected as much. As if Kuwin's feelings were valid and he was just waiting till Kuwin understood the position that Vayi was put in. They didn't always agree when it came to commoners, but Vayi was probably the most liberal minder his family could have found for him.

In all that time, he'd never seen him so shaken, so worried, so ready to run away. And all that was based on what? The fact that the coach was on its side? That the attendant didn't reply to their query?

Vayi looked at the door, sharply, like he'd heard something. When Kuwin looked, he saw nothing. He heard nothing.

But Vayi was reacting to something.

"Please," he said to Kuwin.

"How do you know something is wrong?"

Vayi shook his head. "Don't ask me that. I beg you."

Looking into Vayi's eyes, Kuwin saw fear like he'd never seen. Like Vayi was sure one or both of them were about to get into serious trouble.

"Okay," Kuwin said. "Let's go."

They rushed to the coach as Vayi wedged his hand underneath and began to lift it. Before Kuwin could even help, the coach was put in place.

"It's facing the wrong way," Kuwin said.

"The tracks go one way. I have to move it to the second one." He turned to the other side to open the track locks and slide it into the coach-sized space that led to the second travel tunnel.

"How do you know so much about it? Have you used it before?"

"I guess you could say that. Please pull that latch for me."

"This one?" Kuwin asked as the doors to the entrance opened and Laura stepped out. "Vayi," Kuwin said to get his attention.

Laura hadn't come alone. Behind her were three women and two men. Dressed in uniformed black shirts and black trousers, Kuwin couldn't help noticing the red beads around their necks. They reminded him of the beads around his waist. He cringed to imagine if those beads served the same function. If someone... if the clans... if Laura was keeping those men and women in the same restraints that Kuwin's family had put him in when they locked him in his red beads.

"Stop what you're doing, Kuwin," Laura said.

"He doesn't want any trouble," Vayi said, walking around the coach to stand between Kuwin and Laura. "Let us go."

"You can go but Kuwin has to stay."

"I'm sorry," Vayi said, crouching to remove two daggers from his boots. "But I'm not leaving without him."

"There will be no need for that, Vayi Phillips," Laura said, walking forward with a phone in her hand. "I believe your employers want to talk to you."

Vayi stared down at the phone. Then he looked back at Kuwin before they returned to the phone again.

"Take it. It's Kuwin's mother."

Biting his lips in discomfort, Vayi took the phone.

Kuwin didn't know what to think. Or what to do. Osa was missing and Izeh had just caught them trying to flee like thieves. He had no idea what to think, and the fact that his mother was calling to speak to Vayi, not Kuwin was a very, very bad sign.

"Yes, Ma," Vayi said, returning the phone to Laura.

"I believe we understand each other now," Laura said as one of the women went to Vayi, lifting Vayi's hand as she began to press some of the beads, whispering words into it as the red bracelet that had bound Vayi and Kuwin together for weeks, suddenly broke loose and fell into the guard's hand.

"What's going on?" Kuwin asked.

"Thank you, Vayi," Laura said, taking the bracelet as she wrapped it around her hand and it sealed itself. "Your services are no longer required."

"What?" Kuwin asked, flabbergasted, but Laura's attention didn't leave Vayi.

"Follow the guards and they'll take you to the surface, immediately."

"Wait," Kuwin said as two guards pulled him away from Vayi. "Wait, what's going on? Vayi, what did my mother say?"

But Vayi couldn't answer. He looked like he couldn't do anything but stand there in a stupor as Kuwin was taken away from him.