I feel as if I’ve been punched in the gut again. Mona’s dead. She died from lung cancer several years ago, before Abe and I met. But—I suck in my breath—
And then I blink.
I blink again.
I grabbed a cigarette out of Mona’s hand in 1962. Me. I did it. I threw it on the ground. I told her Ariel would never go for her if she smoked. Did she stop after that day? Because of me?
“Abe, does Mona smoke?” I ask.
“What?” His body shakes. “Why are you asking me this? Of course she doesn’t. You know she doesn’t.”
“Did she ever?”
“No! I don’t know! As long as I’ve been alive, I’ve never once seen her with a cigarette.”
I changed the past. I went back and saved Mona’s life. The weight of this realization sinks in, and I feel dizzy.
“She’s sick now?” I ask.
Abe gets a disgusted look on his face. “Really? What, you conveniently forgot that she was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma a week before Testing Day? A week before this?” He waves his hand at the maze.
I crane my neck toward the buildings on the other side of campus. Somewhere over there, there’s another version of me. A version of me who knows Mona. Who was heartbroken by the diagnosis. Who’s loving and comforting Abe as best she can.
And somewhere, Alpha is walking around this campus, pretending to evaluate all the students while really just foaming at the mouth because he’s so close to taking me. To using me.
“Abe, we have to talk,” I say. “They’re lying to you.” I look around for Alpha. I don’t see him.
“How do you know?”
“Because they lied to me, too!”
“Why would they lie about my grandmother? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“Because they’re using you! Will you shut up and listen to me? Tell me, who told you about your grandmother?”
“Alpha.”
“Only Alpha? Did anyone else actually confirm that she was taken? Ariel? Your dad? Your mom? Anyone?”
Abe’s face betrays the answer. No. No one. He violated one of the cardinal rules of information, which is to always confirm when the source is shady. He knows better. Dammit, he knows better!
“Abe, Alpha’s corrupt, and he’s using the entire organization to make a quick fortune; and you know who his biggest investor is? Headmaster Vaughn. They’re both the reason my father is dead. I ran because I found out the truth, and the truth is that—”
But then a tree branch cracks behind us. I whip around. Oh God! Please don’t let it be Alpha!
It’s not. It’s Katia Britanova. The sophomore who lives in my dorm. The girl who escorted me to the dining hall after all my testing was completed and who overheard Alpha talking about me.
Katia’s eyes shoot up, then she looks me up and down. “Amanda! What the hell are you wearing? And what are you doing here? I just dropped you off at the dining hall like ten minutes ago.” And then her eyes zero in on the gun Abe’s holding. Abe sees her staring and tucks the gun behind his back. “Why do you have a gun?”
“We were just practicing,” he says. “In case there’s another secret test. They didn’t really emphasize gun work in this one—”
“So you’re cheating.” Katia jerks her neck back and juts her chin in the air.
I raise my hands and take a step forward. “I know this probably looks bad, but I promise you we’re not cheating. At anything. And right now, I need you to turn around and walk back to campus. I need you to pretend you never saw Abe and me here. You don’t understand.”
“You’re cheating,” Katia says. “And you know the honor code. Both of you do. I have to turn you in for this. I have to take you to the headmaster.”
Shit!
Abe whips the gun up and points it at Katia.
Double shit! What is he doing?
And then Katia swoops down and grabs a knife from the holster she always has strapped to her ankle.
Triple shit! Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all.
Katia stares Abe right in the eye. “Go ahead and try.” She tips the knife at him. “I guarantee you I’m faster.”
I step in between Abe and Katia and hold out my hands, one at each of them. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” I turn my head to Katia. “You’re going to drop that knife”—then I look at Abe and give him my best pleading stare—“and you’re going to drop that gun. Now, on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
No one moves. No one drops anything.
“I told you,” Katia said. “I’m bound by the honor code to take you to the headmaster. And I’m going to do that.”
“Abe, drop the gun,” I say. “Katia, the knife. Come on, guys; it doesn’t have to come to this.”
Katia jumps. She kicks the gun out of Abe’s hand. He screams and clenches his fingers, but she’s already grabbed it.
“Headmaster,” she growls. “Walk.”
I have a choice. I could fiddle with my watch and get out of here. I’m no one’s captive. But where am I going to go? How long am I going to run? I don’t have a plan, and Abe has no idea what’s going on, and dammit all, I start walking.
“I never knew you were such a bitch, Katia,” I mumble. It’s a cheap shot, but I’m pissed. Mostly at myself. Katia’s doing the right thing. The thing she has to do. Peel’s honor code is strict. If you catch someone cheating, you turn them in. If you don’t and it’s discovered later, you’re out on your ass, too. No second chances.
Katia ignores me. She marches Abe and me toward the administration building.
“You know we’re screwed, right?” I whisper to Abe. “Completely and totally screwed. Even more so if Alpha sees us right now.”
“Stop talking,” Katia says.
“Oh, shut up, Katia,” Abe tosses over his shoulder. “It’s not like you’re going to bury that knife in my back if I don’t.”
“Abey, you have to listen to me,” I whisper. “You really, really didn’t know Ariel had anything to do with Annum Guard?”
Abe looks at me and shakes his head.
I crane my neck around toward Katia. She’s staring me down, so I turn back around. “I didn’t know about Ariel either. Or my own family. Was your dad a part of it?”
“My dad’s a corporate attorney. You know that.”
“But is he really?”
“Yes,” Abe practically growls. “Unless the boxes of contracts and licensing agreements he pours over each night are a part of the world’s most document-intensive cover.”
Suddenly it all makes sense to me. Ariel broke the chain. He didn’t want his son—his only son—to join Annum Guard. He must have known the havoc Chronometric Augmentation would wreak on his body, which is why he almost never projected himself. That’s why he’s the only survivor, and that’s why Abe’s dad never joined. And why Abe never knew about it. I gasp. And why Alpha was brought on during the second generation. The numbers were down to six.
I whisper my theory to Abe, leaning in close to make sure Katia doesn’t hear.
“No whispering!” Katia says.
Abe ignores her. “How do I know you aren’t lying?”
I feel as if I’ve been slapped. “When have I ever lied to you?”
Abe sighs. It’s long and sad, the kind of sigh I’ve heard from him before. “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . I’m so confused. I don’t know who to trust. Who to believe.”
“Yes, you do.” I reach over and squeeze his hand.
“No touching!” Katia snaps.
Abe drops my hand. “Hey, remember that Practical Studies class with Missy Garvin?” he whispers.
I nod my head. Of course I do. Freshman year. Missy Garvin was assigned to tail me. And when I say she tailed me, I mean she tailed me. She never got more than three feet from me. It was annoying as hell. So I took care of it. It’s one of those moments I’ll never forget. One of those moments I’m going to relive now.