The Darkest Minds

“You had a car accident,” I said. “The League picked you up.”

Cate stiffened beside me; I caught the sudden comprehension fall over her features, out of the corner of my eye.

“The League…” he repeated, his eyes narrowing.

“Yes, but if you feel well enough, you can go,” Cate said, when she recovered. “Your brother asked us to give you some money for a bus ticket.”

“I bet he did,” Liam grumbled as he searched the ground for his shoes. “Why can’t I remember the accident?”

I’m not sure Cate realized how plainly she was wearing the shock on her face. Her hand floated up toward my shoulder—to steady me, or herself, I wasn’t sure—but I stepped away.

“Does your head still hurt?” I managed to choke out. I was still wearing his jacket. I couldn’t bring myself to take it off. “You hit it pretty hard.”

“A little,” he admitted. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, his brows drawn together in concentration. “And the League is just letting me go?”

Cate nodded and threw him an envelope. Liam threw it right back to her.

“I don’t want your money.”

“The procedure to contact your parents is also in here,” she said.

“Don’t want it,” he said. “Don’t need it.”

“What am I supposed to tell Cole?”

Liam drew himself up on unsteady legs. “Tell him to come home, and then we can talk.” He turned to me. “What about you? Are you really one of them? You look like you have a lot more sense than that.”

Wordlessly, I took the envelope from Cate. When I pressed it into his hand, he didn’t toss it back at me. “You’d better get going.”

“I’m not going to thank you,” he told us. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

Cate led him out into the hall. “You didn’t have to, and you never need to.”

He started down the stairs.

“Hey—” I called. Liam stopped, turning back up to look at me. “Be careful.”

His blue eyes flicked back and forth between Cate and me. “You too, darlin’.”

I watched him go, from the window overlooking the street, following his familiar shape as he stepped outside and closed the door behind him. No car, no one to watch over, no one to help. He was completely free.

And he looked happy. Sure of himself, at least. His feet instinctively knew what direction home was. Now there was nothing left to keep him from getting there.

Liam passed through the white fence surrounding the house and stepped onto the sidewalk. He flipped the sweatshirt hood up over his head and glanced both ways before jogging across the street. I watched him grow smaller and smaller with each step.

All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, I thought, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning.

Be cunning and full of tricks, and your people shall never be destroyed.

Cate came up behind me, stroking a hand through my hair. “You’ll be happy with us,” she said. “I’ll take care of you.”

I drew the gauzy curtains shut, my fingers sliding over their silky surface. I watched her for a moment, searching for the tell that would reveal her lie. I wondered if she still thought I was the girl she had carried out of Thurmond, who had cried the first time she’d seen the stars.

Because she didn’t know that there were two of me now; split between everything I had wanted, and everything I would now have to be. One of me, the hardest, angriest part, would stay with these monsters and slowly find herself twisting into their shape. But there was another, secret Ruby. This one was as thin as a wisp of air, and had struggled for so long just to be. This was the one that Liam carried with him, without knowing. The one that would ride in his back pocket, whisper words of encouragement, tell him that he was born to chase the light.

For the first time in months, I heard Sam’s voice whisper in my ear: Don’t be scared. Don’t let them see.

I turned from the window, and I didn’t look back.