“But it didn’t,” Sydney says. “Turns out, we saved everyone. Interesting how compassion and competence work better than war and blackmail. Try it sometime.”

“But you’ve hurt your own cause,” he says.

“How do you figure?” I ask. “We stopped the investor.”

Winston looks at me darkly. “Mr. Goodwin is dead.”

My expression falters. “What? What … What are you talking about?”

“What you’ve all failed to comprehend is that the corporation is filled with people who kill anyone who stands in their way. They have no loyalty, even though they demand it. If you had brought him to me, I could have made Goodwin talk, found different ways to infiltrate and cut off funding. Now we won’t have that chance.”

I look at the other girls, but none of us have checked on Mr. Goodwin’s well-being. It strikes us as sickeningly possible that he’s dead, and guilt crawls over me. Even though he may not deserve my sympathy, it would mean that Adrian lost her dad. And despite everything, she still loved him.

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Sydney says abruptly to Winston. She’s disturbed by this development, but she doesn’t want to show Winston Weeks any of that.

Winston doesn’t argue. He nods and heads for the door, pausing there like he’s waiting for me. Despite the other girls staring at me as if telling me not to, I walk Winston to his car.

“That went well,” I tell him, standing at the curb while he opens the driver’s side door.

“It was expected,” he says. “By the way, I know you were at my house last night. You left a bloody fingerprint on my wall.” He looks sideways at me, his expression holding a hint of amusement. “You should have come in and had a glass of wine.”

“I wasn’t thirsty,” I say. “I don’t appreciate being spied on, Winston.”

“I understand,” he says. “But Raven was there to assist you. I wanted you to see that my way is better. That my girls are better. Sure, you were trained to be well behaved and beautiful, but you’re also smart. Savvy. Your usefulness extends beyond that of a trophy wife. No offense.”

“None taken,” I say. “But to be fair, I’ve only seen Lennon Rose as one of your … girls.” I detest giving him ownership of any of us, but I need it to prove my point. “And you don’t exactly have a handle on her behavior.”

“Yes,” he agrees. “Lennon Rose was always a risky option. One that didn’t pan out. But there are others.”

“Other girls?” I ask. “Then where are they?” I motion around. “I haven’t met any.”

Winston laughs. “My goodness,” he says. “I thought you’d figured it out. I thought that was why you came to my house.”

“Figured what out?” I ask.

“Raven,” he says proudly. “I built her myself.”

My breath catches like I’m falling through the air. “What?” I whisper. “Raven is a girl?”

“Not a girl,” he says. “No, she’s not like you or the others. She was never trained to be obedient. She was given full free will and extensive skills. Highly intelligent, compassionate, intuitive.”

“But she doesn’t know what she is,” I say the moment I realize.

“She doesn’t know,” he repeats.

My hand curls into a fist at my side. “You’ve lied to her,” I say.

“What I’ve done is give her freedom from having to agonize about her existence,” he explains. “Raven believes her backstory, that she came here to continue her interests in AI. But everything after that, those were all her choices. Sure, I led her to you, but she’s helped. She put up firewalls and evaluated your programming.”

“And stole our memories,” I say.

He shrugs. “Small price,” he replies. “Raven is the next level of girl. She’s the future.”

“She doesn’t even know what she is,” I shoot back immediately.

“Eventually we’ll tell her.”

He uses “we” as if I’m his partner in this. I don’t approve and I tell him so.

“You’ll grow into the idea,” he says. He glances around at the motel. “I still have more surprises for you, Philomena, once you’re open to hearing about them.” He sighs and motions around the building.

“Do you need money?” he asks, confused. “You can do better than this.”

“We’re not staying long.”

This concerns him. “No?” he asks. “And where will you go?”

“I’ll email you.”

“Ah,” he says, realizing I’m not going to tell him. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. There’s a lot we can accomplish, you and I.”

“There’s a lot I can accomplish without you,” I respond.

Winston nods that I’ve made a good point, and then he gets in his car and drives away.

30

When Jackson returns to the motel, he has a plastic bag looped around his arm. Once inside, he takes out a box of bagels and sets them on the dresser.

“I’m starving,” Marcella says, taking out a bagel while I tell Jackson about Winston Weeks’s visit. When I’m done, he seems confused.

“So Raven … the hacker?” he says. “She’s a girl too?”

“She’s AI,” I say. “Not really meant to be a girl, I guess.”

“The investor missed a type, then,” Jackson says, glancing at me. “The I’m-not-like-other-girls type.” I snort and point at him to let him know it’s a good joke.

“So what now?” Sydney asks. “I mean, Raven got inside our heads and told Winston everything. Our entire lives. But … she really did help lock out Anton and Rosemarie. So … what does that mean?” she asks.

“And she didn’t tell him about Jackson,” I say. “She pretended not to know him.”

“That’s right!” Brynn says, motioning to Jackson. “All humans want to kill you. So you should be careful.”

Jackson eases himself down on the edge of the bed. “Thanks, Brynn,” he says. She smiles and bites into the bagel Marcella hands her.

“It means Raven’s playing both sides,” Marcella says. “And who knows, maybe she genuinely does care for us. Clearly Winston doesn’t know anything about our emotions.”

“We need Lennon Rose,” I say.

“Uh … ,” Sydney starts. “I’m not sure we need to add Lennon Rose to the mix right now. Didn’t Raven say she was out of control?”

“Sure, but maybe that means she’s with us,” I offer. “She hates Anton as much as we do. He may have let her leave the academy, but she resents him. And if she knew he was coming for us, she’d want to fight too. I know it.”

“I agree,” Brynn says. “Lennon Rose may have changed, but she still loves us.”

“Do you have any idea where she is?” Sydney asks.

“There’s only one place I can think of,” I say. “If she’s not with Winston and she’s not with us, she has to be at Rosemarie’s house. I have a feeling she’s been going there a lot.”