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seemed to grow closer to nature than ever before. Your recruits and I spent most of our time near the water since Jane was left in charge. Whenever the queens showed back up at camp, there was a tense truce between them and us. Harriet had no problem voicing her distrust of them – ”
    “Especially Catherine, I’m sure,” I interrupt. Harriet Tubman and Catherine the Great despised each other from the first day they met; thinking about that makes me miss my recruit even more.
    Amelia smiles. “ Especially Catherine. But Jane always welcomed them with open arms, always included them when she handed out small amounts of water every few years. Our de facto Keeper hoped she could unify everyone in troubled times. But there was still a clear division between us and them. We often saw them whispering to some of the other Amazons, probably trying to recruit them.”
    “Any of the others bite at their offer?” I ask.
    Amelia yawns as she slides farther down the tree she’s leaning against. Her yawn is contagious and I find my own eyes barely able to stay open. My recruit shrugs.
    “Who knows?” she asks. “They seemed to go after Marilyn pretty hard. They must’ve assumed she’d jump at the chance since Hollywood actresses are the closest thing to modern-day queens. I guess the queens didn’t realize how close Marilyn truly was with her mentor. The actress told Catherine the Great that she was happy to stay away from any feuds; she just wanted to enjoy the quiet, solitary life of an Amazon and do her part to protect the water. She turned out to be a lot tougher than most of us thought, just like Harriet always said.”
    I have so many more questions about what happened at camp while I’ve been gone. But I don’t have the strength to ask and Amelia doesn’t have the strength to answer. She no sooner finishes her story about Marilyn when she slumps further down and I hear light snoring.
    John’s arms are still wrapped tightly around me but now we lay on the ground. His arm isn’t the most comfortable pillow but it’s still better than sleeping with my head in the dirt, which doesn’t seem to bother him. I’m the last one to succumb to exhaustion as my thoughts continue running rampant. I hate that I’m laying here instead of going after Cassie but vow to turn this anger into motivation; I don’t know how it’s possible, but I will find a way to stop Cassie, even if it means having to kill her.
    Sleep doesn’t seem like it should be possible but before I know, my eyes close and my thoughts drift away to nothingness…

CHAPTER FOUR
    The distant sound of buzzing and croaking grows louder, slowly coming into focus as I emerge from sleep. It’s hot and humid, sticky, stifling heat totally enveloping my body. My clothes cling to my body with sweat but there’s almost something comforting and familiar about the heat. It makes me want to relax and allow my mind to drift back to sleep.
    But then I remember everything that happened. I open my eyes to the mid-morning sun high above, the dirt and ground beneath my head. This isn’t the first time I’ve woken in a rough environment in the middle of nowhere. The heat and insects remind me of being back in the jungle. I think about the Amazons that once lived here so long ago; I’m only a few feet from where Celeste had once been Keeper. I’ve been so wrapped up in my mother’s death that I’ve thought very little about my other loss. But it’s almost fitting that this was the same place where she died, strangely comforting.
    I don’t feel better for long. I imagine Queen Isabella of Castille slithering her way into this camp, regaling Cleopatra and the rest of the Amazons with horror stories about being abandoned by her royal husband and sold to thieving pirates. For a moment, I’m annoyed with Celeste, annoyed that she hadn’t saw through Cassie’s lies. The Amazons could’ve put an end to her terror before it had the chance to begin, especially if they