Weโre all running.
Base isnโt far from here, and our best option is to go on foot. But the minute we hit the open air, the group of usโmyself, Castle, Winston, injured Brendan, Ian, and Aliaโgo invisible. Someone shouts a breathlessย thanksย in my direction, but Iโm not the one doing this.
My fists clench.
Nazeera.
These last couple of days with her have been making my head spin. I never shouldโve trusted her. First she hates me, then she hates me even more, and then, suddenly, she decides Iโm not an asshole and wants to be my friend? I canโt believe I fell for it. I canโt believe Iโm such an idiot. Sheโs been playing me this whole time. This girl just shows up out of nowhere, magically mimics my exact supernatural ability, and thenโright when she pretends to be best friends with Julietteโweโre ambushed at the symposium and Juliette sort of murders six hundred people?
No way. I call bullshit.
No way this was all some big coincidence.
Juliette attended that symposium becauseย Nazeeraย encouraged her to go. Nazeera convinced Juliette it was the right thing to do. And then five seconds before Brendan gets shot, Nazeera tells me to run? Tells me we have the same powers?
Bullshit.
I canโt believe I let myself be distracted by a pretty face. I shouldโve trusted Warner when he told me she was hiding something.
Warner.
God. I donโt even know what happened to him.
The minute we get back to base our invisibility is lifted. I canโt know for sure if that means Nazeera went her own way, but we canโt slow down long enough to find out. Quickly, I project a new layer of invisibility over our team; Iโll have to keep it up just long enough to get us all to a safe space, and just being back on base isnโt assurance enough. The soldiers are going to ask
questions, and right now I donโt have the answers they need.
Theyโre going to be pissed.
We make our way, as a group, to the fifteenth floor, to our home on base in Sector 45. Warner only just finished having this thing built for us. He cleared out this entire top floor for our new headquartersโweโd hardly even settled inโand things have already gone to shit. I canโt even allow myself to think about it now, not yet.
It makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Once weโre gathered in our largest common room, I do a head count. All original, remaining Omega Point members are present. Adam and James show up to find out what happened, and Sonya and Sara stick around just long enough to gather intel before carting Brendan over to the medical wing. Winston disappears down the hall behind them.
Juliette and Warner never show.
Quickly, we share our own versions of what we saw. It doesnโt take long to confirm we all witnessed basically the same thing: blood, mayhem, murdered bodies, and thenโa slightly less-bloody version of the same thing. No one seems as surprised by the twisted turn of events as I was, because, according to Ian, โWeird supernatural shit happens around here all the time, itโs not that weird,โ but, more important:
No one saw what happened to Warner and Juliette. No one but me.
For a few seconds, we all stare at each other. My heart pounds hard and heavy in my chest. I feel like I might be on fire, burning with indignation.
Denial.
Alia is the first to speak. โYou donโt think theyโre dead, do you?โ Ian says, โProbably.โ
And I jump to my feet. โSTOP. Theyโre not dead.โ โHow can you be sure?โ Adam says.
โI would know if they were dead.โ โWhat? How wโโ
โI would just know, okay?โ I cut him off. โI would know. And theyโre not dead.โ I take a deep, steadying breath. โWeโre not going to freak out,โ I say as calmly as possible. โThere has to be a logical explanation. People donโt justย disappear, right?โ
Everyone stares at me.
โYou know what I mean,โ I snap, irritated. โWe all know that Juliette and Warner wouldnโt, like, run away together. They werenโt even on speaking terms before the symposium. So it makes the most sense that they would be kidnapped.โ I pause. Look around again. โRight?โ
โOr dead,โ Ian says.
โIf you keep talking like that, Sanchez, I can guarantee that at least one
personย willย be dead tonight.โ
Ian sighs, hard. โListen, Iโm not trying to be an asshole. I know you were close with them. But letโs be real: they werenโt close with the rest of us. And maybe that makes me less invested in all this, but it also makes me more level-headed.โ
He waits, gives me a chance to respond. I donโt.
Ian sighs again. โIโm just saying that maybe youโre letting emotion cloud your better judgment right now. I know you donโtย wantย them to be dead, but the possibility that theyย areย dead is, like, really high. Warner was a traitor to The Reestablishment. Iโm surprised they didnโt try to kill him sooner. And JulietteโI mean, thatโs obvious, right? She murdered Anderson and declared herself ruler of North America.โ He raises his eyebrows in a knowing gesture. โThose two have had targets on their backs for months.โ
My jaw clenches. Unclenches. Clenches again.
โSo,โ Ian says quietly. โWe have to be smart about this. If theyโre dead, we need to be thinking about our next moves. Where do we go?โ
โWaitโwhat do you mean?โ Adam says, sitting forward. โWhat next moves? You think we have to leave?โ
โWithout Warner and Juliette, I donโt think weโre safe here.โ Lily takes Ianโs hand in a show of emotional support that makes me feel violent. โThe soldiers paid their allegiance to the two of themโto Juliette in particular. Without her, Iโm not sure theyโd follow the rest of us anywhere.โ
โAnd if The Reestablishment had Juliette murdered,โ Ian adds, โtheyโre obviously just getting started. Theyโll be coming to reclaim Sector 45 any second now. Our best chance of survival is to first consider whatโs best for our team. Since weโre the obvious next targets, I think we should bail. Soon.โ A pause. โMaybe even tonight.โ
โBro, are you insane?โ I drop down into my chair too hard, feeling like I might scream. โWe canโt just bail. We need to look for them. We need to be planning a rescue mission right now!โ
Everyone just stares at me. Likeย Iโmย the one whoโs lost his mind.
โCastle, sir?โ I say, trying and failing to keep the sharp edge out of my voice. โDo you want to chime in here?โ
But Castle has sunk down in his chair. Heโs staring up, at the ceiling, at nothing. He looks dazed.
I donโt have the chance to dwell on it.
โKenji,โ Alia says quietly. โIโm sorry, but Ianโs right. I donโt think weโre safe here anymore.โ
โWeโre not leaving,โ Adam and I say at exactly the same time.
I spin around, surprised. Hope shoots through me fast and strong. Maybe Adam feels more for Juliette than he lets on. Maybe Adam will surprise us all.
Maybe heโll finally stop hiding, stop cowering in the background.ย Maybe, I think, Adam is back.
โThank you,โ I say, and point at him in a gesture that says to everyone:
See? This is loyalty.
โJames and I arenโt running anymore,โ Adam says, his eyes going cold as he speaks. โI understand if the rest of you have to leave, but James and I will stay here. I was a Sector 45 soldier. I lived on this base. Maybe theyโll give me immunity.โ
I frown. โButโโ
โJames and I arenโt leaving anymore,โ Adam says. Loudly. Definitively. โYou can make your plans without us. We have to take off for the night, anyway.โ Adam stands, turns to his brother. โItโs time to get ready for bed.โ
James stares at the floor.
โJames,โ Adam says, a gentle warning in his voice.
โI want to stay and listen,โ James says, crossing his arms. โYou can go to bed without me.โ
โJamesโโ
โBut I have a theory,โ the ten-year-old says. He says the wordย theoryย like itโs brand-new to him, like itโs an interesting sound in his mouth. โAnd I want to share it with Kenji.โ
Adam looks so tense that the strain in his shoulders is stressingย meย out. I think I havenโt been paying close enough attention to him, because I didnโt realize until right now that Adam looks worse than tired. He looks ragged. Like he could collapse, crack in half, at any moment.
James catches my eye from across the room, his own eyes round and eager.
I sigh.
โWhatโs your theory, little man?โ
Jamesโs face lights up. โI was just thinking: maybe all the fake-killing thing was, like, a distraction.โ
I raise an eyebrow.
โLike, if someone wanted to kidnap Warner and Juliette,โ James says. โYou know? Like you said earlier. Causing a scene like that would be the perfect distraction, right?โ
โWell. Yeah,โ I say, and frown. โI guess. But why would The Reestablishment need a distraction? When have they ever been secretive about what they want? If a supreme commander wanted to take Juliette or Warner, for example, wouldnโt they just show up with a shit ton of soldiers and take what they wanted?โ
โLanguage,โ Adam says, outraged.
โMy bad. Strike the wordย shitย from the record.โ
Adam shakes his head. He looks like he might throttle me. But James is
smiling, which is really all that matters.
โNo. I donโt think theyโd rush in like that, not with so many soldiers,โ James says, his blue eyes bright. โNot if they had something to hide.โ
โYou think theyโd have something to hide?โ Lily pipes up. โFromย us?โ
โI donโt know,โ James says. โSometimes people hide things.โ He steals a split-second glance at Adam as he says it, a glance that sets my pulse racing with fear, and Iโm about to respond when Lily beats me to it.
โI mean, itโs possible,โ she says. โBut The Reestablishment doesnโt have a long history of caring about pretenses. They stopped pretending to care about the opinion of the public a long time ago. They mow people down in the street just because they feel like it. I donโt think theyโre worried about hiding things from us.โ
Castle laughs, out loud, and we all spin around to stare at him. Iโm relieved to finally see him react, but he still seems lost in his head somewhere. He looks angry. Iโve never really seen Castle get angry.
โThey hide a great deal from us,โ he says sharply. โAnd from each other.โ After a long, deep breath, he finally gets to his feet. Smiles, warily, at the ten- year-old in the room. โJames, you are wise indeed.โ
โThank you,โ James says, blinking up at him.
โCastle, sir?โ I say, my voice coming out harder than Iโd intended. โWill you please tell us what the hell is going on? Do you know something?โ
Castle sighs. Rubs the stubble on his chin with the flat of his palm. โAll right, Nazeera,โ he says, turning toward nothing, like heโs speaking to a ghost. โGo ahead.โ
When Nazeera appears, as if out of thin air, Iโm not the only one whoโs pissed. Okay, maybe Iโm the only one whoโs pissed.
But everyone else looks surprised, at least.
Theyโre staring at her, at each other, and then all of themโall of themโ turn to look at me.
โBro, did you know about this?โ Ian asks. I scowl.
Invisibility isย myย thing. My thing, goddammit.
No one ever said I had to share that with anyone. Especially not with someone like Nazeera, a lying, manipulativeโ
Gorgeous. Gorgeous human being. Shit.
I turn, stare at the wall. I canโt be distracted by her anymore. She knows Iโm into herโmy infatuation is apparently obvious to everyone within a ten- mile radius, according to Castleโand sheโs clearly been using my idiocy to her best advantage.
Smart. I respect the tactic.
But that also means I have to keep my guard up when sheโs around. No
more staring. No more daydreaming about her. No more thinking about how she looked at me when she smiled. Or the way she laughed, like she meant it, the same night she yelled at me for asking reasonable questions. Which, by the wayโ
I donโt think I was crazy for wondering out loud how the daughter of a supreme commander could get away with wearing an illegal headscarf. She told me later that she wears the scarf symbolically, every once in a while, that she canโt get away with wearing it all the time because itโs illegal. But when I pointed this out to her, she gave me hell. And then she gave me shit for being confused.
Iโmย stillย confused.
Sheโs not covering her hair now, either, but no one else seems to have registered this fact. Maybe theyโd already seen her like this. Maybe everyone but me already had that conversation with her, already heard her story about wearing it symbolically, occasionally.
Illegally, when her dad wasnโt watching.
โKenji,โ she says, and her voice is so sharp I look up, stare at her despite my own very explicit orders to keep my eyes on the wall. All it takes is two seconds of eye contact and my heart hits itself.
That mouth. Those eyes. โYeah?โ I cross my arms.
She looks surprised, like she wasnโt expecting me to be upset, and I donโt care. She should know that Iโm pissed. I want to her to know that invisibility is my thing. That I know Iโm petty and I donโt care. Plus, I donโt trust her. Also, what is up with these kids of the supreme commanders all being super- good-looking? Itโs almost like they did it on purpose, like they made these kids in test tubes or someshit.
I shake my head to clear it.
Carefully, Nazeera says, โI really think you should sit down for this.โ โIโm good.โ
She frowns. For a second she looks almost hurt, but before I have a chance to feel bad about it, she shrugs. Turns away.
And what she says next nearly splits me in half.