I nod.

He doesn’t move.

“I won’t let anything happen.”

Slowly he brings his hand up and takes mine.

The gentle ignition comes. “Can you feel that?”

Aiden nods, a worried flick of his gaze to Kitty’s face.

“I don’t feel anything,” Kitty says. “Is that good or bad?”

“Sparks aren’t sensitive … Listen, don’t freak out, but can you take Aiden’s other hand?”

Both their heads swivel towards me in slow motion. Aiden tugs to pull away but I tighten my grip. “Please, I’m trying to figure this out. It doesn’t feel bad.”

“This is important,” Kitty says, like she’s convincing herself. “I know you’re scared, but–”

“Why aren’t you?” he demands, shaking his head.

“I am, but like I said, I trust Evie.” She lifts her chin and presses her trembling hand flat on the coffee table before him. “Can we manage fingertips? Evie will keep watch.”

Aiden looks like he might pass out. Finally he lays his hand on the coffee table, inching it forwards until the tips of his fingers touch hers. I hear the deep pull of his breath but nothing changes. The signal remains steady. Kitty searches my face, Aiden too. A hesitant smile tugs at my lips. “How do you feel?”

“Okay.” He frowns like he’s listening for a distant sound. “I feel normal. I mean, I can feel you, Evie, like a buzz, but that’s it.”

Kitty gives a clipped nod and sits back, squeezing her hands between her knees. “Good. That’s decided then.”

Alarmed, Aiden crosses his arms, jamming both of his hands beneath his armpits. “What’s decided?”

“You have to run,” she says.

“What?”

I sit forwards. “The group I was telling you about, the ones who want to help me and get rid of you, they’re coming for me in two weeks, which means you’ll likely be dead in two and a half … or less, depending on how quickly they can dredge my memories.”

He widens his eyes.

“I believe we can prove you’ve deactivated. We know a geneticist. He helped us identify you when you were a Stray. If I can get him new samples of your DNA, he can provide the hard evidence. They’ll have to listen. But it’s not a quick process – it took a few weeks last time – and we can’t risk waiting. We need to get you out of here and into hiding.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Kitty thrusts her head forwards. “Are you paying attention? They’ll kill you.”

Struggling under her intent gaze, he turns to me. “I understand what you’re trying to do here. But just because we’re … related … I mean – you don’t owe me anything. I deserve what’s coming to me, Evangeline.” He squints at Kitty like it hurts to look at her. “I’m sorry, but you can’t minimise what I did. If your brother hadn’t shot me ...” His voice peters out and he lowers his head. “I wouldn’t have been able to stop, no matter how much I wanted to.”

She draws herself up in her chair. “Haven’t we just established you aren’t that person any more?”

I can’t take my eyes off her, clenched jaw, nostrils flaring. Was she always this strong?

“If anyone gets a say,” Kitty says, “surely it’s me.”

Aiden turns his head away.

I keep my mouth shut.

“You don’t deserve to lose your life for something you had no control over,” she says. “For one thing, it’s not bloody fair and for another, you’re Evie’s brother. Her twin brother. And that might not mean much to you, but I can tell you for a fact it means a lot to her and it means a lot to your mother who’s spent her whole life trying to keep you safe and, okay, it turned out to be a bit shit for everyone, but you’ve actually got an opportunity to change things.”

An agonised groan rises from Aiden’s bent form and his voice comes muffled. “How?”

Kitty gives me a frantic look.

I try for a gentle, reassuring tone. “I’m going to abduct you.”

His head snaps up. “Right. You’ll just carry me out?”

“Yes.”

“She’s very strong,” Kitty explains then turns pink under Aiden’s uncomprehending gaze.

I stumble through an explanation of my plan. Bust him out late at night. Fretizine to look legit. The forest. Kitty’s car. A motel for quick recovery. Get him on the road. Get the sample to Doctor Sullivan. The beach house. The jeep. The need for him to keep moving until his results are confirmed. The likelihood that I’ll be in the custody of the Affinity Project. The letter Doctor Sullivan will post to the beach house in two weeks. If it’s clear, he can choose to wait or run.

“That. Is. Insane.”

I open my hands. “Better than dead.”

He rubs his face. “What about the police?”

“You have to fight me. Make it look like I took you against your will. That’s what the Fretizine’s for. If they catch me before – the others – I take the blame. The others will come for me anyway.”

He lurches to his feet.

Kitty startles then tries to cover it by acting like she was just shifting position.

Aiden pretends not to notice and paces in front of the sliding door. “You could get hurt.”

“You’ll die if we do nothing. Now, where do you sleep?”

He glowers at me but I can tell he’s beginning to consider it. Reluctant, still arguing, he tells me where the dorms are and a map formulates in my mind. Patients can lock their rooms if they wish, though guards have the master key. He’s heard there’re minimal night patrols, but it’s his first day in the new wing and he doesn’t know for sure. There are cameras in the corridors, but I was expecting that anyway.

Footsteps bring us to silence and Kitty and I get up. The counsellor appears in the entrance to the alcove and retrieves her clipboard from the wall. “Say your goodbyes. I’ll wait at the desk.”

When she’s gone, I whisper to Aiden, “I’ll signal you when I’m coming.”

“I still don’t know what that means.”

I reach into the bandwidth, touching my signal to his.

His mouth forms a small “o”. “How do you do that?”

“Practice.”

He gives me a long hard look. “Jamie doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

Neither Kitty nor I answer.

“It’s not worth it. It’s just going to make things worse for everyone.” He gestures at Kitty. “What about your folks?”

“That’s not your problem,” Kitty says. “I’m not a child. I know what I’m doing and I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Their eyes stay riveted on each other, an intense moment stretching out, unspoken and heavy things seeming to shift at a subterranean level, opposing tectonic plates finding a new alignment.

I clear my throat.

Kitty blushes.

Aiden ducks his head.

Kitty looks frozen solid so I take her by the arm and move her out of the alcove, lifting my voice for the sake of the counsellor. “Good luck with your hearing, Aiden. We’ll be there.” I surprise him with an embrace, patting him briskly on the back to cover my awkwardness. I release him abruptly and turn to shepherd Kitty down the corridor. “Walk.”

REVOLUTION

We barely exit the foyer before she starts. “You can’t do this by yourself. I’m staying.”

Stepping out into the blast of frosty air doesn’t help clear my head. My whole body trembles in the aftermath of Aiden giving in. It’s happening. We’re doing this. I’m about to become a felon. “No. You’re not.”

“Yes. I am.” She stalks beside me. “It’s my car. You’ll have your hands full dealing with Aiden. I can be the driver.”

“That is not going to happen.” I check the time on my phone and twinge inside at the Instagram photo of Jamie and me smooshed together that I saved as wallpaper. My nose screwed up as he plants a kiss on my cheek. He took the shot. There’s hundreds more; I should delete them all but I know I won’t. It’s three-thirty. Miriam won’t expect me home till five now that I can’t carpool with the Gallaghers and I’m supposed to be catching the bus. That gives me at least a couple of hours before I can expect her first “Where are you?” text message.