Chapter 34 EPILOGUE WARNER One. The wall is unusually white. More white than is usual. Most people think white walls are true white, but the truth is, they only seem white, and are not actually white. Most shades of white are mixed in with a bit of yellow, which helps

Chapter 33 ELLA (JULIETTE) The first thing we do is find Emmaline. I reach out to her in my mind and she answers right away. Heat, fingers of heat, curling around my bones. Sparking to life in my heart. She was always here, always with me. I understand now. I

Chapter 32 KENJI I was assigned to keep watch outside this door, which, initially, was supposed to be a good thing—assisting in the rescue mission, et cetera—but the longer I wait out here, guarding Nazeera while she hacks the computers keeping the supreme kids in some freaky state of hypersleep,

Chapter 31 ELLA JULIETTE Run, Juliette run faster, run until your bones break and your shins split and your muscles atrophy Run run run until you can’t hear their feet behind you Run until you drop dead. Make sure your heart stops before they ever reach you. Before they ever

Chapter 30 KENJI Warner just about slaps me upside the head. He yanks me back, grabbing me roughly by the shoulder, and drags us both across the overly bright, extremely creepy laboratory. Once we’re far enough away from Anderson, Ibrahim, and Robot J, I expect Warner to say something—anything— He

Chapter 29 ELLA JULIETTE Max, Anderson, a blond woman, and a tall black man are all standing in the center of the room, staring at a dead body, and they look up only when Ibrahim approaches. Anderson’s eyes home in on me immediately. I feel my heart jump. I don’t

Chapter 28 KENJI When we finally make it to the compound, I’m exhausted, thirsty, and really have to use the bathroom. Warner is none of those things, apparently, because Warner is made of uranium or plutonium or some shit, so I have to beg him to let me take a

Chapter 27 ELLA JULIETTE Max is staring at me like I’m an alien. He hasn’t moved since Anderson left; he just stands there, stiff and strange, rooted to the floor. I remember the look he gave me the first time we met—the unguarded hostility in his eyes—and I blink at

Chapter 26 KENJI This was the plan: We were all supposed to go invisible—Warner borrowing his power from me and Nazeera—and jump out of the plane just before it landed. Nazeera would then activate her flying powers, and with Warner bolstering her power, the three of us would bypass the

Chapter 25 ELLA JULIETTE First, I see light. Bright, orange, flaring behind my eyelids. Sounds begin to emerge shortly thereafter but the reveal is slow, muddy. I hear my own breath, then faint beeping. A metal shhh, a rush of air, the sound of laughter. Footsteps, footsteps, a voice that

Chapter 24 KENJI We’re in the air. We’ve been in the air for hours now. I spent the first four hours sleeping—I can usually fall asleep anywhere, in any position—and I spent the last two hours eating all the snacks on the plane. We’ve got about an hour left in

Chapter 23 ELLA JULIETTE In the darkness, I imagine light. I dream of suns, moons, mothers. I see children laughing, crying, I see blood, I smell sugar. Light shatters across the blackness pressing against my eyes, fracturing nothing into something. Nameless shapes expand and spin, crash into each other, dissolving

Chapter 22 KENJI I stand stock-still for a moment, letting the shock of everything settle around me, and when it finally hits me that Nazeera is really here, really awake, really okay, I pull her into my arms. Her defensive posture melts away, and suddenly she’s just a girl— my

Chapter 21 ELLA JULIETTE I am a thief. I stole this notebook and this pen from one of the doctors, from one of his lab coats when he wasn’t looking, and I shoved them both down my pants. This was just before he ordered those men to come and get

Chapter 20 KENJI We both stare at the bloody scene a moment longer before Warner suddenly straightens and heads out the door. I tuck my gun into the waistband of my pants and chase after him, remembering to close the door behind us. I don’t want those scorpions getting loose.