Curled up on the bed, I toyed with the only thing I had left from my world before: a silver charm dangling from a dainty chain. I laid there, my brain replaying what I’d learned tonight, and tried to decide what I would do with the information. I couldn’t trust anyone here, other than Star, and I didn’t think it wise to tell her that I’d seen her death. So I was stuck dealing with the knowledge of what the Institute was doing on my own.

Inside my head was a scary place.

Star lay down beside me, her blonde hair curtaining over the bed. “I can’t stay long. The lab requested that I come in for my yearly physical.”

“Yearly physical?” I echoed, the wheels in my head spinning. This wasn’t good. Warning bells tolled inside me.

“Uh-huh. The usual. Blood work, fitness testing, shots,” she rattled off all things that sounded very legit…

But I knew better.

The mention of needles in any form sent up a red flare. I grabbed Star’s arm. “Don’t go.”

She wrinkled her little perk nose. “What are you talking about? It is mandatory. I have to go.”

I shook my head, sitting up and dragging Star with me. “I heard something today. Do you trust me?”

She folded her legs in an Indian style. “I probably shouldn’t, but I do.”

We’d get into the reasons why she shouldn’t trust me another time. Right now, I needed to convince her to run away with me.

No big deal. Easy-peasy. Piece of cake.

I mean, how hard could it be? I’d already seen it in a vision—Star and I escaping from the Institute—so eventually I would persuade her leaving was in both of our best interests.

Chewing on my lower lip, I attempted to keep my expression neutral. “The Institute is experimenting on humans, injecting them with DNA from those who’ve been mutated,” I said slow and cautious.

A dainty hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Are you sure?”

“Positive. I overheard my parents talking about it today when I went to see them in the lab. I think they are using these routine physicals as a way to administer the cells into human hosts for testing.”

“What am I going to do? If I don’t show up to my appointment, they’ll send a guard to fetch me.” Panic set in, and Star started talking in turbo speed.

“Right. I have an idea for that. But you’re probably not going to like it.”

“Okay, the suspense is killing me. What is it?”

So much energy buzzed through me I couldn’t sit still. My knee bounced, shaking the bed. “We’re going to escape,” I told her.

“I’m sorry,” Star choked out. “What? I swear you just said you wanted to escape Diamond Towers.”

I might not be Dash Darhk, but I had to try. Star and I were both in danger if we stayed here. I jumped off the bed and started pacing the room, barking out orders. “I did. Now grab whatever you need from your room that you can carry—keyword being carry—because you will have to lug it around with you. Make sure it is absolutely necessary, and then get your butt back here so we can figure out what to do next.”

“Charlotte …” Her fingers twisted together like she often did when nervous. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

I grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her toward the door. “Yes, you can. I’m giving you twenty minutes. If you’re not back here by then, I’ll assume you want to stay. I won’t force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. This is a risk, I get it, but the payoff might be you no longer having to wait hand and foot on everyone else.” And you will live.

She chewed her lip, wrestling over the pros and cons. A longing entered Star’s eyes. She wanted more out of life. As scared as she was of what awaited us out in the Heights, her desire for freedom might win out, and I was counting on it. “This is ludicrous. Do you know what they would do to us if they caught us?”

“It is easier if you don’t think about it. Besides, we won’t get caught.”

“How can you be so certain?” she asked.

“You said you trusted me, and now I’m going to trust you with something very few people know. Not even my parents know. You can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. Swear it.”

“I-I promise.”

Not the most convincing, but it would do. “I have more than one gift.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re bi-Gifted. That is amazing.”

“Depends on how you look at it. I get visions, and the other day, I had one of you and I sneaking out of the Institute. We’re meant to leave together.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

With my right hand, I drew an X over my chest. “Cross my heart and hope to—”

She grabbed my hand. “Don’t you say it.”

I grinned. “You get the point. And I’m telling you, we need to leave tonight.”

“This is all happening so fast.”

“If there was time, I would gladly give it to you, but it has to be tonight. Now go.” I shoved her out the door, sending her down the hall. You can do it, Star. Be brave.

Leaning against the door, I gave myself a minute to breathe, and then I went into hyper-mode, throwing what I could into a backpack: my few measly clothes, some protein bars and fruit I’d stashed in my room for those midnight munchies, a hairbrush, and a scarce other provisions.

Now what?

That was the problem with spontaneity and no strategy: it was a good way to get into deep shit.

But I would take my chances.

* * *

I shoved both my hands in my hair, waiting on edge for Star. The girl was fraying my nerves. This didn’t seem real. I was doing this, planning a foolish scheme to sneak out of the white city in the middle of the night.

What am I doing?

What if I get us both killed?

I’d never be able to live with myself if anything happened to Star because I dragged her into this whole escape fiasco. Good thing I’d be too dead to care.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

What was that sound?

It came from the window. I squinted in the dark. “Blink?” I exhaled. The large black bird perched on my windowsill, his whiskey-colored eyes shining like a beacon of hope in the room. Blink was a Blinken. Original, I know, but I didn’t name the bird with extraordinary capabilities. He told me himself.

I moved closer, just to be sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me or I wasn’t hallucinating.

“Surprised to see me?” asked the bird, turning his head to the side to an angle that would have been painful for humans.

Even in my astonishment at seeing the bird again, I still found a moment to revel in his sleek and regal beauty.

As if the bird sensed my awe, he flapped his expansive wings and tipped up his beak.

“Surprise doesn’t begin to describe what I’m feeling. Sick to my stomach might be a better description,” I mumbled.

“You must hurry. I’ve taken care of the guards, but we don’t have much time.”

My lips turned down at the corners. “How did you—? I don’t understand … You did what?”

If a bird could roll its eyes, Blink had just done so. “We only have time for the CliffsNotes version. The pollen I used on the guards has an expiration. It will keep them comatose long enough for you and Blondie to slip away.”

My mouth was still agape. “How are you here? How could you possibly know my plan?”

He scoffed. “Lack of plan more likely. You sent me.”

“No I didn’t.” I would most definitely have remembered.

“Not the you now; the you from the future.”

Oh yeah, that totally made more sense. “Uh, if you say so.”

“Charlotte. We must go. Where is the girl?”

This whole future-me nonsense sent me tripping. During another time and in another place I might try to wrap my head around it, but for now, I folded my arms across my chest. “Okay, I got it. Don’t ruffle your feathers.”

The bird made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat.

I’d never met an animal with more attitude and entitlement, but he’d provided me with an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, assuming he wasn’t lying. I hadn’t forgotten Dash’s mistrust of the Blinken. This could be a test set up by the Institute, not that it mattered much to me at the moment. I was doing this. Tonight.

Grabbing my canvas bag off the bed, I tossed it over my shoulder.

“Ticktock,” Blink clucked.

I shot him a peeved glare. “She’ll be here.”

“Who are you talking to?”

I spun around. “Jesus, you scared me, Star. You really need to learn to make some noise when you enter a room.”

“I thought the whole point was to be inconspicuous,” she whispered.

“It is. You’re just too damn good at it.”

“Were you talking to yourself?”

“Um, sort of.” I made a quick decision not to tell her about Blink. He had made himself scarce, and I took that as an indication he didn’t want to be seen. Not to mention, even in my head a conversation about a talking bird seemed batty.

Star had pulled her long blonde hair into a ponytail. “Please don’t tell me you’re going crazy. I mean, crazier than you already are.”

My mental stability could definitely be questionable at the moment. “Let’s go.”

Shouldering her pack, Star followed me to the door. “Now that I’m here, I’m not sure I can do this.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “You can. I happen to know for a fact that you are stronger than you think you are. We can do this. Together.”

She nodded. “I’m afraid, but I’m more afraid to stay here.”

“I know what you mean,” I muttered, moving out into the hallway toward the elevators. Here goes nothing.

“This way.” Star grabbed my arm, spinning me around in the opposite direction of the elevator.

I gave her a funny look.

“We can take the service stairs. It isn’t manned by guards at this time of night.”

Just what we needed. Star didn’t give herself enough credit. Who the heck knew? Star and I might just pull this off.

Sprinting down the hall, we came to a dead end. There was nothing but a blank wall. “I thought you said there was a service stairs exit. Where the hell is the door?”

“Here,” she whispered. Her fingers ran along a crack in the wall I hadn’t seen, and a split second later, the wall disappeared, like a sliding door, and vanished into a cavity. Voilà. A set of stairs appeared.

“Neat trick.” How many other hidden passages did Diamond Towers have?

It was a heck of a trek down all those stairs, but by some grace of God, we made it to the first floor without running into anyone. Most of the staff must have been in their living quarters. Another hidden sliding door opened to the west side of the building, just outside the courtyard.

It was so easy, it almost felt wrong, but we kept going.

Now was the moment of truth. We were about to find out whether or not Blink had really fairy-dusted the guards to sleep.

As I pushed open the door that led outside, I held my breath, waiting for a tripped alarm to go off. The only sounds were the crunching of our footsteps, the chirping of crickitoes, and the flapping of wings.

Blink.

He perched on a tree in the center of the courtyard, looking pleased with himself. All around the lush grounds lay bodies. The glowing golden eyes of the bird met mine, and he gave a tiny jerk of his head, telling me I needed to quit gawking and move on.

Star inhaled sharply behind me. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Just a sleeping spell. They’ll be fine… I hope, but we don’t want to be lingering around when they wake up on the ground with a mother of all headaches. Come on. We need to keep moving.”

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

Me neither. “Stay in the shadows,” I murmured.

“What if they wake?” Star inquired as we crept past another comatose body.

“All the more reason to hurry.” I bent down and snatched one of the guard’s stun guns. You never knew when it might come in handy out in the Heights.

We ran through the courtyard, past the guard’s station, the center fountain, and right up to the front gate. Easy-peasy…

I might have spoken too soon.

Blink squawked from the sky, and I knew he was telling me something was wrong.

“And where do the two of you think you’re going this late?” Blink must have missed a guard. Oops.

“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,” Star started chanting in a panic.

“I know who you are,” the guard so obviously pointed out. I could see the little dots starting to connect.

“Good. Then you know how this is going to end.” I whipped up the stun gun clutched in my hand.

“I’m not letting you out of here,” he said, lunging forward. He caught my arm in both hands, twisting it over my head. I was no match for his strength to my utter frustration.

I had to do something or risk everything we’d done so far. Any second, I expected the alarms to be tripped. Powering up, I let the flow of electricity in the air fill my veins. Lightning impaled the night, setting it aglow. The guard knew what was coming and hastily released his hold on me, his pupils dilating with fear. I don’t know what happened next. My brain kicked into survival mode. The gun in my hand went off, and since a Taser utilizes bolts of electricity, my power amplified the charge, lighting up the air.

His body started twitching as if he was seizing, and I waited for him to go down, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet.

What is this guy made of? Steel?

The same couldn’t be said for me. I didn’t possess any super human strength, but I did have power of my own. The sheer surge of the jolt would have killed a normal man. I needed to expect no one and nothing was normal anymore. While he twitched like a live wire, I curled my fist—still pumping with power—and socked him in the face.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and like a sawed off tree trunk, he hit the ground in plank formation.

Biting my lip, I impeded the string of swear words I had ready as I stepped backward, cradling my hand. Why does it look so easy in the movies when you punch someone?

I might have broken my hand.

Snatching my bag off the ground, I turned to Star, who quivered, and threw a haunting glance in her direction. If we were going to get out of here alive, she needed to calm down. “Are you okay?” I asked, doing my best to ignore the pain shooting through my hand.

She nodded, eyeing me with a weird expression, as if scared… of me. “D-did you…?”

“Kill him?” I added. “No, he isn’t dead. I just knocked him out.” Hopefully. “I told you I would protect you, and I meant it. Now all we have to do is walk out the gate.” I didn’t want to give her time to reconsider what we were doing. “We need to go.”

Putting a hand under her elbow, I guided her toward the exit. We edged out of the fenced compound and into the volatile Heights. Then we were running, each step taking us farther and farther from the Institute.

I don’t know how long we ran for, but my lungs burned and my legs felt like Jell-O. As we crested the top of a hill, I slowed our pace. Under the deep blue sky, I looked up and saw the stars glimmering like thousands of diamonds, and I wanted to weep for so many reasons.

A cold resolve hit me in the gut as I regarded the gleaming city behind us. I was out, but I wasn’t free. Not yet. My parents would look for me. They would hunt me as they hunted Dash. I had something they desired: my DNA.

I pushed aside the bleak thoughts of the Institute. It would take many therapy sessions to rid myself of the stain the Institute had left on my soul. But for tonight, I had bigger problems.

Where were Star and I going to sleep?

And how the hell was I going to find Dash?