I was busy scribbling things down on my pad when Cornelius suddenly said, “Zoe Elphesian and her guests are in the elevator requesting access. Should I let them in?”

I paused mid-stroke and looked up. “Yes. Show them back here. And give them a tour while you’re at it.”

“It is my honor to serve.”

I leaned back in my chair and looked at my indicator, swiping across the glowing ten of my rank and going to the time. It’d been just a few minutes since Lacey and I had finished talking, and I had attempted to figure out what we should do next, but it was hard when there were three different goals: getting out of the Tower, restoring Scipio, and finding the people responsible for what had happened.

Escaping the Tower had always been the original plan, but without a steadily flowing supply of Paragon, we were powerless to recruit any more people toward accomplishing it. We were barely able to keep up with the people Roark had already recruited, and that was after we made the doses weaker. What we had wouldn’t last, and without the people we had recruited, we would be unable to build an escape vehicle large and safe enough to pass through the radioactive wasteland that surrounded the Tower. They were people I had never even met, and yet they were an integral part of this mission. What was more, we needed further recruits. Which meant making more Paragon. Which meant we needed to go after Jasper, so he could give us the formula.

Jasper could also help with fixing Scipio, another one of our goals, so going after him was really doubly important. Getting him, however, wasn’t going to be easy. Sadie Monroe, who currently had him, lived in an apartment similar to my own, and entering it wouldn’t be a simple task. We’d have to figure out a way to get around her computer assistant so our passage wouldn’t be recorded—and we wouldn’t be killed before getting through the door. We’d also have to coordinate some sort of distraction to make sure she was out of there at the time, so we didn’t risk running into her.

Finding Ambrose and my mother’s killers was important, too, though, because of Lacey, and because that was what I wanted to do the most. However, I was self-aware enough to realize that it was also dangerous for me on a personal level. I was too emotionally compromised—and too hungry for vengeance—to trust myself. If I found even one of the bastards who’d had anything to do with the sentinel…

I exhaled and straightened as I heard Cornelius’s voice drawing closer through the speakers he had set up after I finished designing the rooms, alerting me that the tour was nearing completion. Standing up, I took a look around my new war room, and then decided that I shouldn’t be on the raised dais when they came in. It’d make me look imperious and arrogant.

I went down the stairs I had created, feeling slightly anxious. I hadn’t exactly been at my best over the last few days, and I knew my friends were worried about me. They were the closest thing I had to family now, next to my brother of course, but I hadn’t been able to let them in. I hadn’t wanted to talk about my mom because I didn’t know what to say.

Now that I did, I still wasn’t ready, it seemed.

But luckily, I didn’t have to yet, either—I had something we all could focus on. Which meant, I hoped, that we could get back on even footing again.

Cornelius’s voice was still droning on about the bedrooms, so I just about leapt out of my skin when he abruptly announced, “You have an incoming net transmission from one Alexander Castell. Shall I connect him?”

I took a moment to calm my beating heart and then frowned. I had forgotten to net Alex after Astrid left, but then again, I really hadn’t wanted to. He didn’t need to be involved in this, not with his position in IT being so precarious. Still, I couldn’t exactly ignore him. He was my brother.

“Yes, please,” I said to him. “Directly to my net.”

“Of course.”

A second later, a fine-tuned buzz began to erupt from the filament strands draped over my cerebral cortex, setting my teeth on edge.

Liana, I am still in the Citadel. Where are you? My brother’s voice was hot and angry in my ear canal, causing me to wince slightly.

“Alex, I’m in my new quarters getting things set up.” Okay, not a total lie, but not the complete truth, either. As good as I was at lying, I really didn’t like doing it to the people I cared about, but the less Alex knew, the better. I didn’t want his temper getting the best of him—and besides, it wasn’t like I had much to tell him. “It turns out my first council meeting is tomorrow, and I need to prepare. I’m going after the expulsion chambers. I’ll be able to put them out of commission.”

To hell with that, Liana. What about Mom? The investigation, tracking down her killers!

I bit my lip and sighed. I knew my brother well enough to know that when his family was threatened, he became the most protective. But his questions were dangerous and liable to draw even more attention to him. Hell, the legacies could be watching him right now and listening in, trying to see how much he knew. I needed to be careful about how I handled him and what I revealed.

“Alex, I don’t have access to those files right now,” I told him. “I know you expect me to jump in feet first, but I have a really big job now, and I need a little time to get a handle on it.”

That’s bull. I saw Zoe and the others leave the wake together, and I know they’re going to meet you right now. I know it’s going to come up. I want to be in on this meeting. I can help you.

I pursed my lips. Alex could help us to a certain extent, given that he was in the IT Department and could figure out where Sadie’s quarters were, if he didn’t know already. But Sadie was also watching him, and the slightest misstep on his part could get him caught up in charges of terrorism and treason—charges that came with a death sentence. I couldn’t risk him getting caught doing anything, and I couldn’t risk telling him anything that might lead to rash action on his part.

Still, I did need to get him to ease off a little, and for that to happen, I had to approach this reasonably.

“Yes, the others and I are going to have a meeting. And yes, we will be talking about Mom’s death, but only so that I can tell them to let it go for the time being. The council is watching everything closely right now, and if anyone starts digging, they’ll be all over it, wondering why. I promise you that as soon as it’s safe, we will look into it together, but for now, I just need you to keep your head down and watch your back, comprende?”

“Comprende” was our word, the last connection with our heritage from before the End. I was hoping that using it would make Alex see the wisdom in my words—lies that they were—and back off.

I don’t believe you. Let me come to the meeting. She was my mother, too!

I almost caved. Almost. The hurt in his voice was so raw it touched me, and I felt myself start to soften.

But I couldn’t do it. My brother was already too close, and now in danger due to how much scrutiny he was under. Better to keep him away and let those who might be watching think we’d had a falling out, so they wouldn’t go after him to get to me.

I had to keep him safe.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I know you think I’m going after this, but I’m not… I promise you I’m not.” I looked up as Zoe entered, a bag thrown over one shoulder. She’d recently re-shaved the sides of her head, as the hair there had been getting too long, but the center mass was still long and held back in its customary braid. Her face was curious as she put the bag on the ground, but she didn’t interrupt me. “Look, I really have to go. I love you.”

There was a long pause on my brother’s end, followed by a soft, Coward, said in a bitter and angry tone.

The single word was like a slap to the face that also cut right down to the bone, flaying me open. I knew he wanted to be involved, but that was a bit harsh, even for him. Not to mention uncalled for—I was doing the best I could. And he should have understood that.

“Alex, I—”

“He has terminated the call,” Cornelius said, just as the buzzing in my skull suddenly cut off, confirming what he was saying. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between two fingers.

“That jerk,” I muttered, frustrated by my brother’s response to things.

“Your brother is many things,” Zoe said carefully, straightening up from where she had deposited the bag onto the floor. “But a jerk isn’t one of them. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “He just wants to be part of the investigation into what happened with…” I trailed off, my throat tightening around her moniker. It felt wrong saying it now that she wasn’t here.

“Of course he does,” she said, running her hand over her braid and fidgeting with the end of it. “And we’re doing one, right?”

I blinked, surprised at her. “You want to? I would’ve thought…”

“Hey, going after Jasper is also very high on my list, because of the Paragon, but knowing who these people are will help us understand what their goals are. And that will help us figure out what we can do to stop them.”

I was opening my mouth to reply when Quess and Maddox entered, both of them carrying multiple bags. They came to a stop on the top of the stairs I had created at the end of the hall, and Tian pushed between them, darting down the stairs right toward me.

“Liana!” she said, leaping into the air, her arms spread wide.

I opened my arms and braced myself, and seconds later the body of a fourteen-year-old girl slammed into mine, knobby arms and legs going everywhere. I hugged her tightly to me for as long as I could hold her weight, taking solace in the feel of her warmth and vibrancy, and then gently eased her down onto the floor.

“Hey, Tian,” I said quietly. “What do you think of our new home?”

She placed a finger on her chin and looked up and around, drawing her lips and eyes tight in a severe and speculative expression. After a second, she smiled broadly and went up to her tiptoes, raising a hand to the side of her mouth. “I love it,” she whispered loudly.

I smiled, pleasure radiating from her praise, and then looked up to where Maddox and Quess were coming down the steps, Leo and Eric right behind them.

“Yeah, I have to agree with Tian,” Quess said. “This place is pretty killer. Not sure about Cornelius, though. Do you want me to check him out?”

“You and Leo both,” I said, relieved to know that Quess and I were on the same page, security-wise. “Lacey assured me that the entire terminal was wiped after Devon died, but I want you to make sure. I also want you to see if you can find any ghost servers that might store the previous Champion’s vid files. Apparently, this apartment is always monitored, but it’s supposedly as private as private can be. Find out if that’s true.”

Quess raised his eyebrows as he slung his bag onto the floor, next to where Zoe had set the one she was carrying. “Well, hello there, stranger,” he said roughly. “That’s more than you’ve said in the past three days. Are you…” He paused and fidgeted before meeting my gaze, a mixture of hope and hesitancy in his eyes. “Better?” he finished.

I looked up for a moment, and then exhaled slowly, the answer too complicated. “Let’s just not worry about how I am,” I said. “There’s too much going on to dwell on that. Can you get started on Cornelius, please?”

He frowned, and then nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said, his voice filled with caution. “Whatever you need, Liana.”

“Thank you,” I replied. I looked at the pile of bags that was rapidly growing at the foot of the stairs. “You guys packed up the apartments?”

“Oh yeah,” Eric said with a grunt, tossing his three bags into the pile. “We figured it would be more efficient this way.” He looked around for a second, his hands on his hips. “This is some living space.”

“Came with the job,” I said dryly, and his lips twisted into a shadow of a smile, some of the concern in his eyes lightening. “Well, I’ve got a room set aside for Zoe and you, because I figured you guys would want to share, and then Quess and Leo are sharing, as are Maddox and Tian, so you can pick out rooms and move your stuff into them while Quess and Leo take a look at Cornelius.”

Silence met my statement, and my brows drew together. Clearly I had missed a beat and they had already made decisions about their sleeping arrangements without me. I waited, looking around expectantly, and it was Zoe who explained.

“Eric and I are going to stay in Cogstown,” she said, lowering her eyes. “I think it’s better if we stay as close to Lacey as possible.”

I narrowed my eyes at her as I considered what she was saying. I knew there was more to it than that, but wasn’t entirely sure why she was being so cagey about telling me. “Okay,” I said, drawing out the syllable to add an implied “and?” to the tone.

“And…” She trailed off again, looking oddly guilty. Her blue eyes lifted so she could look at Eric, and suddenly it clicked: Zoe wanted to be alone with her boyfriend, and I could understand that. She probably just didn’t want to hurt my feelings, which explained her behavior.

“You know what, it’s okay,” I said softly as she grew more and more flustered. “I get it. You and Eric are just starting up, and this stuff is definitely a source of stress. If you think you’re safe there, then I’ll trust your judgment.”

I expected her to smile, but the look she gave me made me feel as if I were being peered at through a microscope, getting pressed flat by two pieces of glass so everyone could see right through me. I suddenly felt awkward under that gaze, and added, “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice.”

This time she did smile, and relief poured through her eyes. “You’re back,” she said, stepping close and wrapping her arms around me. I stood stiffly for a second, and then returned the gesture.

“In a manner of speaking,” I said gently. I let her hold me for a second or two longer, and then pulled away. “Anyway, I can leave the room open for you, or I can change the rooms to make them a little bit bigger if you all want.”

“Actually,” Maddox said carefully, dropping into a chair at the tactical table, “Quess and I are going to be sharing a room for a little while.”

She brushed her fingers lightly across the tabletop, but a dull blush formed in her cheeks. I swiveled around to look up at where Quess was standing on the dais to see him staring down at us, both his thumbs raised high and a broad smile revealing all of his teeth. My jaw dropped, and I looked back and forth between the two of them several times.

I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised. Up until the last challenge, he and Maddox had been sharing a room. That had changed after my mother had died and I shut down, but now it seemed they wanted to go back to that arrangement.

“And that means I can have my own room!” Tian chirped excitedly. “And so can Leo! And we’re single, so we don’t have to share!”

I looked over to where Leo was kneeling behind the desk, a screwdriver in hand, and saw him already watching me, his eyes a warm brown. Something passed through me—a jolt of electricity—and I quickly moved my gaze away, afraid he would see it. I was lonely, and he was curious.

Or at least, I hoped that was all it was on his end. I couldn’t even consider how I would feel if it was something more than that.

I took a moment to clear my throat, and with it my thoughts, and then looked around. “Okay. Well, I think we should just jump right in, if that’s all right with everyone. We’ve got a lot to talk about and some decisions to make, and as always, there’s not a lot of time. So let’s start with what we’ve got.”

I held up my pad and hit the Project button, and a second later, the table began to glow.