Chapter 361 Wait... What?  

If you like music while you read, try "Whose Side Are You On?" by Tommee Proffitt + Ruelle. It's what I was listening to while writing this scene!

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~ ZEV ~

"You… what?!" Zev hissed.

Sasha's eyes were bright and color in her cheeks as they walked. She looked around, then leaned closer. "There's definitely no one close, right? No one will hear us?"

"No," he said, stunned. "Sash, tell me. How—"

"Listen, listen," she took his hand, squeezing it and walking quickly back towards the City. She was so excited and he wanted to be there with her, sharing that smile. But fear twisted in his gut. What had she been doing?

"You remember how you brought me through unconscious, so I'd never used the gateway, right?" she said quietly, peering around them at the trees like she'd see someone who might interrupt them.

"Yeah." Fuck, he'd been so scared that Nick would give her bad advice and she'd get lost… He shuddered and pushed the thoughts away. He needed to focus. "But, the females—"

"No, listen, I have to tell you the whole story so it makes sense: When Nick and I went through he gave me this little pep talk about the Gateway and how to get through it safely—and what the risks were, too, right? How, if you didn't focus it might spit you out in the wrong place."

"Yeah," Zev's head was spinning. What had she done?

"Well, I got there safely. But right at the beginning, when the bond broke, I got really scared and I almost came back to you, Zev. When my mind was flicking back and forth and I was trying to decide… the gateway kept showing me a different direction until I was sure where I wanted to go. It was scary, but nothing went wrong. I forgot about it for a while.

"Then I got to the compound and I saw how secure the whole place was, when I learned how the females had tried to escape and hadn't been able to, I was kind of despairing, you know? I didn't know they were going to send so many with me—and there's still even more there and I couldn't see any way to get them out. And then when they did agree to send some of them, their choices were really weird. I'm serious, Zev," she said, "I think they just gave us these females to soothe me—and you. But there's no one important here, have you noticed? None of the Alphas. None of the ones that you… mated with." She swallowed hard and looked away and Zev's breath whooshed out of him.

"Sasha—"

She shook her head, but she met his eyes again. "The ones they sent are all females who either don't know us or are just… not important to their cause. I think they sent the made ones because they can't breed, or something. I'm not sure. But I'm just convinced that it's an empty gesture, you know? These are Chimera they're willing to lose. It's the others that are valuable. We have to get them out. They're the ones that will actually hurt the Team."

"Okay, so… what does this have to do with your plan?"

Sasha bit her lip, her smile back and her eyes sparkling. "I figured out that we weren't going to get them out unless we could take them from the compound directly." Her throat bobbed and she lowered her voice. "Zev, I figured out I needed to get the Gateway to get places where the Gateway doesn't open or close."

"Wait, what?"

"I mean, Nick's warnings, right? You had to be careful what you focused on. What if that wasn't a warning because they didn't want to lose us, but because they didn't want us to figure out how to use it? I mean, it was just an idea, but I realized… or at least, I hoped…"

"What?"

She took a deep breath and stopped walking, taking both of Zev's hands in her own. "Zev, if the Gateway could spit you out in some place that you didn't plan to go, that meant that it had access to a ton of different places, right? And how could it send you where your heart wants to go unless it could go… anywhere?"

Zev's blood ran cold. What had she done? "Sash… you didn't?"

"It was a risk, I know," she hurried on, "But… I thought about it a lot while I was there. We needed a miracle, Zev. I was never going to get them all out of there without something bigger than the technology and security and… anyway, when we were coming back through to get back here, when I stepped in, I told the Gateway where I wanted to go… which was to a place where I could access the females without the humans knowing."

He could barely breathe. He stared at her in shock.

Sasha beamed. "It worked, Zev! The Gateway took me to Vayl—the Alpha of the females in the compound. To the camp, they have in the forest. Where most of the other females were!"

Zev just about fell over. "Are you serious?"

She nodded quickly.

"Then… why aren't they here?"

Sasha grimaced. "Well, that's the tricky part. The Gateway opened up in the air—I almost fell out when I reached the threshold. But I was able to talk to them, and get the Gateway to take me to three different groups of them! I told them I'd be coming back for them, not to give up hope. We just have to figure out how to keep the Gateway open and get them up to it when it opens like that, because it's too high to jump—"

A shudder rocked through Zev's entire body. "Sash, wait. You're saying… you told the Gateway to take you to different places. Places where it didn't have a grounded exit? It was just… open in mid-air?!"

"Yes! And it worked! Don't you see, Zev? We can save them! We can really save them!"

Zev slid his hands out of hers and clawed them both into his hair, staring at her wide-eyed. She was brilliant. She was incredible.

"You're a genius," he breathed.

Sasha smiled and hopped excitedly on the spot. "I know it's crazy, but I really think—"

"No, seriously, Sasha… you're amazing… and beautiful, and… SO FUCKING STUPID I WANT TO THROTTLE YOU RIGHT NOW!" he snarled, stepping into her with his teeth bared.

Sasha blinked and jerked her head back, her smile faltering. "Wait, what?"