“He doesn’t work for them anymore. And he knows too much,” Valery says, stealing my line from earlier. “We were afraid the collectors would use him to learn information about Charlie.”
“Can we trust him?” he asks.
Max straightens. “You can trust me.”
Kraven pushes his shoulder-length blond hair behind his ears. Then his gaze comes to a rest on Annabelle. Anna barely acknowledges him. Not at first, anyway. Not until his hands curl into fists and he says, “Another human?”
Annabelle meets his glare and, God love her, cocks a hand on her hip. “And?” She does a little head bob, and I can’t help the laugh that bursts from my chest.
Kraven continues to stare at Annabelle.
He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t speak. He just stares.
“Dude,” Annabelle says, breaking the silence, “you’re totally creeping me out.”
Kraven finally looks at Valery, awaiting an explanation. “Same situation as Max,” Red says. “She knew too much.”
“Why did she know too much? Him I understand.” Kraven jerks his head toward Max. “But her?”
“Excuse me,” Annabelle says. “I don’t know how you liberators roll, but on earth we have friends. And Charlie? She’s the best I’ve got. So yeah, she told me about you guys. Get over it.”
My breath catches. I always knew Annabelle had some balls, but I never knew they were gold plated.
Kraven’s eyes rake over Annabelle.
She stands her ground.
Something passes over his face, unreadable. Then he strides away from us.
Annabelle glances at Valery. “What’s up with Crazy Face?”
The sound of Kraven’s voice crashes through the room. “Training starts at oh-seven-hundred. I suggest you get some sleep.”
24 
Closer
Valery guides us down several hallways and flights of stairs until I’m sure I could never get back to the great room. There are people at every turn—humans. I suspect they don’t know about liberators and collectors and sirens. It probably isn’t hard to find employees willing to leave questions unanswered as long as they’re offered an easy job with good pay, though it’s startling to know collectors aren’t the only ones engaging humans in our earthly endeavors.
Red unlocks yet another door. “There’s a lounge room here,” she says, waving her arm. “And bedrooms that branch off of it.”
I’m beginning to understand why they call this place the Hive. It’s a honeycomb of rooms, doors, and hallways, and probably serves to protect its inhabitants. “Hey, Red,” I say. “How are you guys so sure the collectors don’t know about this place?”
She turns and faces me, her high heels tapping against the wood floors. “They probably do. No matter where we built, they would find it. So we did what we could and designed it so that only a few people would know their way around.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “So if someone breaks in, they’re more likely to get lost than cause trouble.”
“That’s the idea.”
Blue collapses onto a leather couch. I know the feeling; I’m exhausted, too. The rest of the lounge room is sprinkled with dilapidated chairs, oversized ottomans, and more couches. Nothing matches, but it all appears comfortable. I notice there aren’t any windows, and that I haven’t seen a single one since we stepped foot inside the house.
As Annabelle and Charlie curl up on a love seat, I continue to drill Valery. “You said this place was created recently, but how recently?”
Red shrugs. “I’m not really sure. I was given blueprints to memorize a few weeks ago and told a training facility was being constructed. I think it’s part of something…bigger.”
“This place?” I ask.
She nods.
I think about what Blue said, that Big Guy has huge plans for me, and that Aspen is a test to see if I can be trusted. Could this house, the Hive, also be a part of this plan? If Valery thinks so, then I could believe it.
“I’m going to bed,” Red announces. “I’ll wake you for training in the morning.” She glides toward the door. Click, click, click go her heels. Max follows behind her like a stray and Red pauses at the door. I watch Valery to see how she’ll react. Her eyes travel over his face, and then she leaves, but not before cocking her head in the direction of the hallway.
Max bounds after her.
After the couple makes their exit, I find a huge beanbag thingy and plunk down. The Styrofoam shells give a satisfying crackle as they settle around my oversized frame. Above my head is a single blinking string of multicolored Christmas lights. The liberators really go all out to celebrate JC’s b-day.
Aspen is sitting next to Blue, and Annabelle and Charlie face them. With Valery gone, we all just kind of stare at one another. What do we say when we’ve never had a conversation without sirens trying to kill us?
Blue cranes his neck to look at Aspen. “Dude.”
Her eyebrow quirks upward. “Yes?”
“Where did you learn to fight like that?”
Annabelle snorts, and Blue glances at her. “What?” he asks.
She shifts next to Charlie, pulling one of her long legs beneath her. “That’s what you want to talk about right now? Not, where the hell are we? Or, Does this place have rabies? Or even, What is up with that freakazoid, Kraven?” Annabelle pulls her finger up. “No, no. Blue just wants to know about Aspen’s nunchuck skills.”
“Um, I don’t own nunchucks,” Aspen says.
Blue looks at her. “Maybe you should.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” he presses.
Aspen bites her bottom lip. “Lincoln.”
Blue laughs. “Now who’s being ridiculous?”
She sighs. “Not the president, asshole. My friend. His name is Lincoln. His dad is in the CIA or FBI or some crap like that. He taught him self-defense.” Aspen shrugs. “So then Lincoln taught me.”
“It’d be a lot cooler if it’d been ole Abraham who taught you,” Annabelle says.
Charlie laughs. We all look at her. “Am I not allowed to laugh?” she asks.
Our hands suddenly become extremely interesting.
“Come on,” Charlie adds. “It was a joke. Stop treating me like I’m an invalid.”
Aspen stands up. “In that case, why don’t you get off your rear and do something?”
I’m out of my seat in a flash. “Aspen,” I say, a note of warning in my voice.
Aspen reaches her hand out to Charlie. “I’m starving. Help me find something to eat, O Savior of the World.”
My heart leaps when Charlie grins and takes Aspen’s hand. The two head toward the door like a pair of misfits.
“You’re going to get lost,” Annabelle warns.
Aspen doesn’t turn around. “So come with us.”
Annabelle rolls her eyes. “Fine, but only because you’ll bring back crap food if I don’t.” She rises from the love seat and shoves herself between Aspen and Charlie so that she can be closer to her best friend—and maybe to remind Aspen that Charlie already has a best friend.
I glance at Blue. He sighs and then gets up to follow them.
“You, too?” I say.
Blue shrugs. “You want to try and convince them not to leave? Go for it. Otherwise, we might as well make sure they get back okay.”
Annabelle and Aspen whip around together.
“Like we need your help,” one says.
“Just stay here,” the other barks.
You’d think Annabelle and Aspen would get along a little better considering they both scare the crap out of me.
Blue and I trail after the girls, and exactly forty-seven minutes later, we make it back to our room with stomachs full of junk food. Annabelle punches a victorious arm into the air and tells us to eat it, even though she got us more lost than anyone. After making a big show of yawning, she and Blue wander off to bed, her through one door and him through another. Aspen looks at Charlie and me for a moment after they leave.