“Don’t be afraid to use it if you have to,” said Knox as he strapped the holster onto me. I slid the gun inside and pulled the hem of my sweater over it, hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I’d chickened out injecting Daxton with poison; I had no idea how I would ever work up the courage to shoot someone, but there was no way in hell I was letting them leave me behind.

Celia and Knox took so many different weapons and bullets that it was a miracle they could carry them all. Knox assured me he didn’t plan on using his, but Celia made no such promises.

The plan was simple: we would find Lila and Benjy and get out of Somerset. Knox was determined to find Greyson as well and offer him the chance to leave, but his life wasn’t at risk if he stayed. I wanted him to come with us as badly as Knox did, but my priority was finding Benjy.

It was freezing in the underground tunnel, and I shivered as I followed the glow from Knox’s flashlight. Celia was fuming, and she had been ever since Knox opened the door to show her the entrance into the passageway.

“This has been here the whole time, and no one ever bothered to tell me?” she’d said. She was carrying too many weapons for me to have any desire to answer her, and Knox also stayed quiet.

None of us spoke again until we stood in the empty space directly above Knox’s suite. He and Celia started to sort through the arsenal they’d brought, silently exchanging clips and holsters and guns. Without an explanation, Knox handed me a plastic thing that felt like a toy, and he unlatched the hole in the ceiling once they both looked satisfied with their choices.

“We meet back here as soon as we can,” he said. “No detours. Celia, you grab Lila. Kitty, you know where the safe room is?”

I nodded. I remembered how to get there from my first night at Somerset.

“Good. You have the password?”

“Yeah.” I touched my hip, where the piece of paper Knox had given me was safely tucked in my pocket. I couldn’t read it, but if I had time, I could find the right letters.

“All right,” said Knox. “I’ll find Greyson. Don’t hurt anyone unless you absolutely have to. Kitty, the plastic pistol—it’s loaded with extremely strong tranquilizer darts. Your other one has bullets. Don’t mix the two up, and only use the real one if it’s a choice between you and the other guy. Got it?”

I nodded again, and we slipped down the ladder into his empty suite. While Celia immediately headed for the door, Knox watched me climb into the vent.

“I’m sorry for misleading you,” he said as I hauled myself up. “Before, when I said I hadn’t seen Lila give her speeches—I handle information for the Blackcoats. That’s my job. Not public relations. But I knew she was giving them, and there’s no excuse for me not trusting you with that.”

Right, because now was the perfect time to have this conversation. I wiggled onto my stomach and scooted around until I could see him through the opening in the ceiling. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” he said firmly. “I should have told you, but we barely knew each other. No one can touch Celia and Lila, but I’m a VI. If anyone found out—”

“I get it,” I said. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“Yes, I do, because I want you to know that I’m on your side. I want you to trust me.”

I hesitated. “I do,” I finally said. “And we can talk about it when this is over, but right now I need to go.”

“Be safe,” he said, and as I pulled the grate back into place, he held his hand up in a silent goodbye. This time I returned it.

I couldn’t move from floor to floor in the vents, which made things tricky. By the time I reached the opening closest to a rarely used set of stairs, I was panting from the effort of slithering through the tight enclosure. I dropped out of the vent and ducked into the luxurious stairwell. So far, so good. The corridors were patrolled, but with all that had happened, I held out hope that Augusta had the security team clustered and guarding the family. Knox and Celia were much more likely to run into trouble than I was.

I crept down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. The basement was four floors down, and I slipped through the door, searching the ceiling for an air vent. There had to be one around here somewhere.

But there wasn’t. With sinking horror, I even ducked around the nearest corner to see if one was hidden there. Nothing. I backed up toward the stairwell. The only way to get to the safe room was the hallway, where anyone could see me.

My mind was made up before I even considered it. I took a shaky breath and checked my reflection in the shine of the doorknob. After I wiped a smudge of dirt from my cheek, I still looked exactly like Lila. It was a gamble, banking on Augusta not telling the servants that Lila was on lockdown, but I wouldn’t leave Benjy behind.

With my head held high, I strode down the hallway. I had Lila’s face, and with her attitude, no one would be any wiser. The reports that I was dead helped boost my confidence, but I still held my breath as I passed a group of servants.

Some stared, but I’d grown used to that by now. Visiting Daxton was my only excuse if someone stopped me, even though the infirmary was in another wing and I was heading in the wrong direction. Luck must have been on my side for once, however, because no one said a word.

When I turned the corner and spotted the entrance to the safe room, I froze. A guard stood straight and unmoving in front of the metal door. His gun was bigger than mine, and he likely had some experience using it, which put me at a distinct disadvantage. Had Augusta warned him? And even if she had, would he really threaten to shoot Lila?

It was a risk I had to take. I hid my holster with my long sweater and walked up to him, oozing fake confidence. He didn’t step aside when he saw me coming, and for one horrible second I thought I saw the hand next to his gun twitch.

“I want to see him,” I said, slipping easily into Lila’s prim accent.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead he studied my face, apparently looking for any sign that I wasn’t Lila. No one could tell the difference, though, not even her own mother, and the guard didn’t stand a chance. I forced myself to stare back.

“Did you hear me?” I said in Lila’s snooty voice. “Open the door and let me see him.”

“I am sorry, Miss Hart,” he said stiffly. “I am under direct orders not to open the door for anyone but your grandmother.”

I fixed him with the most sinister look I could manage. “Don’t make this difficult. I’ve given you a direct order now, you know.”

The guard looked pained, and he glanced down the hallway. “I am sorry, Miss Hart, but there is nothing I can do—”

Pop.

The tranquilizer dart hit his thigh, and he collapsed. I tucked the gun back in the waistband of my jeans, and using every bit of strength I could muster, I dragged him away from the door. We were alone, but I knew that wouldn’t last long, especially if someone had overheard us.

Pulling out the password Knox had given me, I held it in one trembling hand, and with the other I searched for the right letters on the screen. They weren’t in alphabetical order, and it took me twice as long to find each letter. By the time I hit the last one, a bead of sweat trickled down my spine.

The screen turned red with words I couldn’t read, and after a moment, it switched back to the keyboard. Confused, I turned the door handle, but it was still locked. Was there something else? A card I had to swipe, a sensor I had to touch for it to read my thumbprint? I looked around the door, but nothing else stuck out. There wasn’t even a keyhole. Just the screen with its out-of-order letters.

My hands shook as I tried again. Had I skipped a letter? Had I mistaken one for the other?

Another red screen, and I growled in frustration. Time was running out. It wouldn’t be long before someone noticed what was going on, or worse, spotted Celia or Knox trying to escape. I had to do this.