Fan-flipping-tastic.

It was just like Harper to ruin the first perfect night I’d had in the Heights.

Dash leaned a shoulder on the door, pocketing a blade I hadn’t seen him grab. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Did your father send you?”

She shook her head, her chestnut braid swinging over her shoulder. She was dressed like a tribal slut. “News travels fast. I heard you were back. Should have figured you wouldn’t leave little miss precious alone.” Her eyes moved past Dash, pinning me with a glare of death. “I thought you would have ditched the baggage.”

“Change of plans,” he responded without batting an eye.

Her big blue eyes raked Dash’s chest, taking in his nearly naked appearance. It was obvious what she had interrupted, but I still wanted to bang her head into the nearest wall. Seeing her look at Dash engulfed me in bitter hot jealousy.

“I can see that,” she spat.

He folded his arms. “Harper, this isn’t a good time.”

“Too freaking bad. As much as I want to kick your ass out of Hurst, my father wants to speak with you at Odd Hill. Put some clothes on. Just you,” she said in disgust to Dash.

Oh yeah. Harper wanted to go a round with me out back. Truth be told, I wanted it too. Something about Cyan’s daughter made me go mental with possessiveness.

Dash’s lips thinned. “Give me five minutes.”

“I won’t give you the time of day, Dash Darhk.” Harper spun on her heels and stomped off. I was happy to see her go, until I realized Dash was leaving.

“What do you think he wants?” I asked.

Dash raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. “Maybe he’s found something out.”

My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“There is a network that reports any information gathered inside the Institute. This helps us keep one step ahead of the Institute if they are planning something.”

I slipped on my discarded pants from the floor. “I’m going with you.” If there was information about the workings of the Institute, I wanted to know.

“Charlotte, Cyan won’t talk to me with you there. The network’s secrecy is too important. If it gets out that there is a group working against the Institute, we have no advantage.”

“Are you implying I’m not trustworthy?” The entire world was suspicious of me.

“I know where your loyalties lie, but the rest of the network has only heard rumors about you, the latest being about your stint inside the Institute.”

“Then they at least owe me the opportunity to prove my worth. These are my parents. I know them better than anyone. Wouldn’t I be someone valuable to the network?”

He paused, pressing a hand to the wall. “Are you sure you could betray your parents if it came down to choosing?”

“I’m not sure of anything, except that I can’t sit around and wait for the next time the Institute tries to attack us.”

“I’m assuming if I tell you to stay put, you’ll only end up at Odd Hill anyway.”

I grinned. At least he understood me.

Dash exhaled roughly. “And no doubt trouble will find you. Maybe I should lock you in.”

I shot him a dark look. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Get dressed,” he growled.

I stood in the center of the room and lifted my arms up. “Already am.”

He shook his head, scooping his damp shirt off the floor. “I’ll do the talking. Got it?”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

Cyan sat at a table in the far corner of the room, the perfect nook for secret discussions. His eyes landed on me and then moved to Dash. Did his lips twitch? It was hard to tell in the dimly lit bar.

“Cyan, I tried to—”

He held up a hand. “No need to explain. Honestly, I expected Charlotte. Girls like her don’t take no for an answer, do you love?”

My lips curved. “Damn straight. I give you my word. Nothing I hear will be repeated.”

Dash sent me a glare. “What happened to me doing the talking?”

Cyan laughed. “You have much to learn about love, Slayer, and what battles are worth conceding. Sit, before the two of you draw unwanted attention. You attract enough by just walking into a room.”

We did?

I glanced around, curious if anyone cared about two Institute runaways, but Cyan was right. Dash and I had drawn more than one pair of eyes. Gunner, at the bar, winked as my gaze passed over him. For it being midnight, Odd Hill was a hopping little joint. Laughter reverberated around the room and glasses clinked together, and as we took a seat, I couldn’t help but notice a reduction in volume.

“Why?” I asked. “What’s so different about us?”

Cyan wrapped his hand around the cold drink in front of him. “Other than your value to the Institute? There are people who can see the future. Your future.”

“Charlotte has the ability of sight,” Dash revealed, surprising me.

“It isn’t something I’ve learned to control, and more than half the time it is unpredictable,” I added to be clear that the ability wasn’t always reliable.

Cyan’s eyes looked at me with curiosity. “You just keep getting more interesting. We have a seer here in Hurst. She has seen pieces of your destiny, and your future is linked to Dash’s, but I think you guys have figured that out.”

I’d never put much stock in destiny. I believed I made my own choices, and even after being given the gift of sight, I still believed nothing in the future was set in stone. Saving Star had been proof that the visions I saw could be altered. If we knew what was coming, then we could change it for the better. I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the table. “What has she seen?”

“There is a battle coming. We don’t know when or why, but it is coming. She can’t see everything, only that you and Dash have the means to win it.”

“Helpful,” I mumbled, sneaking back into my seat.

Dash stiffened beside me. “You didn’t ask me here to talk about prophecies. What has happened?”

Cyan lifted his glass, taking a pull from his drink. “Things have become strained in the Institute after Charlotte managed to escape. It hasn’t quieted down like it usually does. Their efforts to find you have only tripled, and you won’t be able to outrun them for long, not when they have eyes everywhere. Guards have been stationed around the clock at the holding houses, and they won’t let you slip through their fingers… not again, you can count on it.”

Dash’s jaw hardened. “I appreciate the warning. Is there anything else?”

Cyan’s eyes moved from Dash to me. He seemed to be deciding how much he could trust me. “They’ve started the trials on human subjects.”

Dash nodded. “Charlotte had a vision before she left of the Institute using Star as one of those subjects. It killed her.”

“You saved her life,” Cyan said, holding up his glass in salute.

“I did what any friend would do.”

He lifted a brow. “Maybe a hundred years ago, but here in the Heights, everyone is out for themselves. The two of you have something the Institute would kill to get their hands on.”

Dash’s eyes clashed with mine.

That something was our blood.

I swallowed. “Why does the Institute care so much about Dash’s and my DNA? What makes us so special?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same question,” Dash pondered.

My mind tumbled through the possibilities. “Dash seems obvious. If you were looking to build an army, what better way than to have men with the ability to kill, knowing you’d never miss your intended target? But me? I’m no weapon.”

Cyan blinked. “You have something the Institute has never encountered. Multiple gifts. Four of them. No one in the Heights has ever demonstrated more than two.”

Surprise flickered in my expression. “So you know what I can do?”

Cyan’s sharp eyes met Dash’s. “I do. Have you figured out the fourth?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. It might be better if I never do.” Who knew? The theory about the colors in my eyes could be wrong. What if I only had three abilities, not four as everyone assumed?

“Or maybe it is what we need to balance the scales,” Cyan suggested.

I tapped my fingers on the tabletop. God, I hoped not. I didn’t want to be that important. If the fate of mankind rested on my shoulders, we were doomed. “I don’t understand. Why does the Institute need an army? Who are they gearing up to fight? Certainly not us? Even if the regions of Hurst banded together, the Institute would still have the advantage. So what’s the big threat?”

Dash angled his body toward me. “We don’t know for sure. As you know, the Institute keeps more than its share of intel under lock and key. Only the members of the council have that kind of clearance. They’re not telling anyone for a reason, and we can only assume it is bad. It isn’t just a revolt they’re preparing for.”

“Why go to so much trouble to replicate DNA from people who have been altered by the mist?” I asked.

Cyan flicked his gaze to Dash. “Whatever it is, I have a feeling it will affect us all. We might not have a choice but to fight.”

“I’m more worried about what they will do to me after they’ve taken my DNA,” Dash grumbled.

A chill skirted down my spine. I got the inkling that Cyan was right. Something out there had the Institute spooked.

* * *

The night was long after we returned back to my room. Dash lay quiet beside me in the dark. I wanted to tell him everything would be okay, but how could I when I wasn’t positive myself? It would be a lie. I didn’t know what would happen. Not today. Tomorrow. Or next week.

We hadn’t really talked since leaving Odd Hill. I was sure Dash was trying to plot some scheme to keep me safe. At this point, I wasn’t sure from whom. The Institute was the immediate threat, but after that?

I hadn’t let myself think of my parents and how they might be feeling since I left. Did they miss their daughter or just what they wanted from me?

Sadly, my instincts told me it was the latter.

It was late when I felt him circle an arm around my waist, tugging me to his chest. With the Institute closing in around us, it was hard to fall asleep, but weariness had settled into both of us, dragging us under.

It wasn’t until late the next morning that I untangled myself from Dash to check on Star. Throwing my hair into a messy bun, I shoved the loose curls behind my ears. I’d given up long ago trying to manage my hair, but man was I overdue for a cut.

Quietly I tossed on some clothes and shuffled next door. I rapped my knuckles on the wood, and it swung open before I got three knocks in. “Hey—”

Star grabbed my arm and tugged me inside a small room identical to mine. The only thing missing was a sexy, sleeping Dash. “Where were you?” she demanded.

“Hold up, crazy lady. When?”

She stared at me as if I was the one acting loony. “Last night.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the tavern.”

“They have a bar?”

My lips twitched. “If you can call the Odd Hill a bar.”

Star stared out the window, serious lines crinkling the corners of her soft eyes. “I don’t know if I can stay here.”

“Why not? They have food, a bed. You could get a job in the market, and I bet there are hot guys.”

“Have you seen any hot guys?” she countered, popping her hip out to one side.

“I can’t really be objective. No one compares to Dash.”

Star rolled her eyes, but at least the worry had receded and there might have even been a glimmer of a smile. “See, this is why I need you. I don’t know anyone here.”

“You didn’t know anyone when you came to the Institute either,” I reminded her.

She sighed, sinking onto the edge of her bed. “It is gonna suck without you. I wish you didn’t have to leave.”

I sat down on the bed beside her, bumping our shoulders together. “Me too.” Star and I had been through a lot. She’d been my companion when I had no one. Together we had escaped Diamond Towers, and we’d survived dating the same guy. How many friends could say that?

Her fingers fiddled in her lap. “Couldn’t you stay? Just for a little longer?”

I shook my head. “I can’t. The Institute is doing everything in their power to find me, and if they catch us, I don’t want you going back there.”

“Because of what you saw?” she asked softly.

I nodded. “I don’t want to take the chance that they might try to use you as one of their test subjects.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not end up with hot pink leopard skin or growing a third boob,” she joked, attempting to lighten the ominous mood.

I laughed. “You would totally rock that look.”

* * *

We only stayed in Hurst another day before packing up our stingy belongings and preparing to run from the Institute for as long as we could, or until we came up with a better plan. The time had come for us to part ways with Star, and it was a bitter moment. Inside I was conflicted. I wanted her to be safe, but I couldn’t be sure this was the best way.

Star stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to Dash’s cheek, and then she turned to me. “Don’t barbecue me, okay?”

I grinned. “It crossed my mind.”

The next thing I knew, she had launched herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck. “The two of you are going to change the world,” she whispered.

People kept saying that, but I was still unconvinced Dash and I could do anything so monumental. We were only two humans, and yes, we had extraordinary gifts, but saving the world? Geez. No pressure.

Don’t cry. Do not cry.

“I’m coming back,” I whispered, giving her one last squeeze.

“Promise?” Star sniffed as her arms released me, fighting back tears of her own.

My chest seized like someone had pinched my heart. “We’re a team.”

Star smiled at me through watery eyes. “Always.”

“We should go,” Dash murmured softly, laying a hand on the small of my back.

“You better take care of her. If anyone can keep Charlotte alive, it is you,” Star told Dash.

“No doubt I’ll have my work cut out for me.”

Star scrunched her nose. “This is weird, isn’t it?”

I rubbed my chest where it felt like a gaping hole had opened up. “Probably,” I agreed. “But who cares? Weird works for us.”