44

MIN

Lightning coursed through my veins.

Tack could be alive!

Impossible, but wasn’t all of this, from the very start? I’d never pretended to understand my birthdays, but Hector’s revival didn’t require my comprehension. It was a real thing. I’d seen it. Tack could’ve done the same.

So where is he?

Noah watched me pace, his expression dazed. I knew the strain was getting intense, but I needed him with me on this. He was the only one who might get it.

I stopped and took his hand. “Listen! I know it sounds crazy—”

He barked a laugh. “We’re way past crazy. I can barely think.”

“True. But Hector woke up in the woods alone, without any injuries. That’s exactly what happened to me when I was pushed into the canyon. Somehow he reset!”

Noah’s eyes widened. “You think Hector is one of the blue dots? A beta?”

I shook my head vigorously. “Did he look like someone who’d been through that before? Plus, today isn’t his birthday. And he wasn’t killed by Black Suit, he jumped.”

“Okay.” Noah was thinking it through. “So . . . then how did it happen?” His jaw tightened. “Are we dead after all, like Hector said?”

A twinge of fear, but I shoved it aside. Trust your instincts!

“For some reason, Hector just had one of our experiences. Now Tack’s body is missing! It’s not a stretch to think it happened to him as well.”

“Okay . . . so where is he?”

“No idea!” The words tumbled out of me. “He could be hiding in the woods, totally freaked out. He wouldn’t walk back into town like Hector did. Not after Ethan stabbed him. He’s probably up a tree somewhere, alone and scared out of his mind.”

“Then how do we find him?”

I’d been wondering the same. “I don’t think he and Hector came back in the same place. They probably would’ve seen each other. But maybe Tack reset in one of our spots? My clearing isn’t far from here. Let’s check it. If he’s not there, we can circle around to your cave. If both are empty, we’ll try to find the place Hector described.”

“Right. Sure.”

“He’s out there, Noah. I can feel it. Trust me, please.”

Noah smiled. “I do trust you, Min.”

I smashed his mouth with a kiss. Then pushed away.

“Let’s go find our boy.”

•   •   •

We reached the meadow where I’d awakened so many times. No sign of Tack. The forest was eerily quiet without birds, a chilling reminder that more was wrong in the valley than just missing townspeople. I took the risk of calling out, but got no response.

So we started hiking over to Noah’s cave, skirting the northern edge of town. There we had a stroke of luck. An unlocked car had its keys inside—not unusual in our town—and the tank was full. Opting for speed over stealth, we drove down Quarry Road, then shot south along the water.

We didn’t see anyone else. Whatever Ethan and the rest were up to, they didn’t seem to be looking for us. Noah drove as close as we could get, then led me the rest of the way on foot, to a hidden fissure in the rocks beside a small pond. The cozy little vale would make an amazing campsite, but it was plain that no one was there.

Noah pointed to a sheet of mud stretching across the entrance to the cave. “No footprints. I don’t think he was here.”

I ground my teeth. He’s alive. Somewhere. We just have to find him.

Noah knelt, drew a circle in the dirt. “Look. This is the lake.” Then he made three dots around the circle. “Here’s your reset point, in the north. Mine is to the west. And the area Hector described is over here, to the south. What do you notice?”

The answer was obvious. “They look like compass points.” My mind made the leap. “The Nemesis docs described four beta subjects, but we know of only three reset points so far.”

Noah made a fourth mark in the dirt. “Here. To the east.”

I clamped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Brilliant!”

“Ow!” He scuttled sideways with a laugh, then rose to tower over me again. I could tell he was pleased by my praise. We hurried back down to the car.

The trip took thirty minutes. We drove south around the lake, hoping to avoid notice, though anyone watching from the hills would’ve spotted us. I wondered what Ethan was doing. His reaction to Hector set my teeth on edge. Did he know more than he was letting on? Was he still after Noah and me, or had Hector’s return somehow changed the game?

Worries swirled inside my head, forming a ball of tension I couldn’t dispel. I wanted to scream at the car to go faster. For a hot second, I missed my mother desperately. Yearned for her soft hands and levelheaded advice. But I pushed those feelings away.

Mom had betrayed me. She’d made me the centerpiece of a conspiracy involving my repeated execution. Anyone who could do that to her own flesh and blood wasn’t worthy of trust. I could only count on myself.

And Noah. He’s proven that much, now.

We reached the eastern woods. Without a better plan, Noah parked in the same place we’d used the night Sheriff Watson was killed. Everything felt like it was coming full circle, though we were no closer to figuring things out.

Project Nemesis remained a total mystery. Its architects were ghosts.

Noah led me to the edge of the woods. “Where should we look? There’s a lot of acreage back here.”

I’d been thinking about it on the ride over. “Reset points seem to be empty spaces. Let’s find the field where those soldiers trapped us.” Where Sheriff Watson was executed, I left unsaid, but I could tell it was on his mind as well. We hopped the fence. The hike took ten minutes. We reached the clearing, but not a soul was present.

My spirits sank into my shoes. I’d been wrong.

Tack wasn’t there. Which meant Tack was dead.

I didn’t even have the heart to call out.

Bushes rustled. I spun.

A skinny kid emerged with greasy black hair stuck to his forehead. His clothes were filthy, but there was a devilish gleam to his blue eyes.

“What took you guys so long? I was running out of berries.”