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volume. “Have the
teleporter ring ready.”
    “ Zenn—”
    “ I just need you to have
the teleporter ring ready.”
    Blaze looked like he was
going to argue again, but he didn’t. “Fine. I’ll stay
here.”
    “ Damn straight you will.”
I strode to the edge of the building. I didn’t turn to see if he’d
conceded. He’d stay.
    Beyond the alley, the
streets of Freedom stretched into a black abyss. I’m not gonna lie,
my heart pumped into overdrive, spreading fear and adrenaline
through my body. I knew this city. I’d been here countless times
over the past few years.
    And I hated this place
with every cell in my body. The lair of the most powerful
Directors. The birthplace of mind readers and schools to teach
people how to use and control others. Freedom epitomized everything
the Resistance fought against.
    I stayed inside the
shadows, which wasn’t difficult on this moonless night. The height
of the buildings would’ve blocked any light from reaching the
immaculate cement anyway. Rise Twelve towered in the distance a
mile away. To the untrained eye, it looked as sleepy as the rest of
the Rises.
    But I saw the flicker of
light on the roof that indicated someone stood there. I noticed the
flip of a curtain on the fifth floor which meant someone was
breaking curfew. I caught the flash as the front entrance opened
and closed, quick as a blink.
    Despite the chill, I
arrived at Rise Twelve sweating. I needed a nice long break after
this. Midnight missions to enemy territory were taxing, especially
when you’re perched on the pinnacle of two impossible
decisions.
    I’d always choose Vi. I
would not be responsible for her death, for any more suffering than
she’d already endured. With her dad gone and her mother on her case
all the time, she needed a safe place. I wanted to be that person,
that place. No matter what.
    I circled around to the
back of the building, where my Freedom spy should be waiting.
Together with the three Insider prisoners we’d leave this pathetic
excuse for a city behind.
    I stood at the corner of a
medical kiosk, studying my watch. Seven seconds… Four…
One…
    The back door opened and a
tall silhouette emerged from the building. Click, step, click, and the door
closed again, sealing the techtricity inside in under a
second.
    I didn’t speak; I never
spoke first. Part of me wanted to tell him to hurry, but I waited
still and silent.
    “ Warm tonight,” the man
said, and my blood ran cold.
    That wasn’t the keyword.
Not even close.
    I turned to leave but had
only taken one step before angry fingers gripped my bicep. “Well,
Zenn, have you made your choice?”
    I tried to shake my arm
out of Director Myers’s death grip. I freed myself and strode away
on legs made of putty. Director Myers. Director freaking Myers. How
did he predict my every move? How did he know I’d be here tonight
of all nights? My heart battled against my ribs, sending fear and
desperation coursing through me. The only redeeming thought I had
was that at least Blaze Barque was safely hidden in that
alley.
    “ I’ll match you with
Violet Schoenfeld.” The Director’s voice sliced daggers through me.
“You can be together. You and Miss Schoenfeld. I’ll make sure it
happens.”
    The stillness of Freedom
pressed down on me, unnatural and terrifying.
    “ I can make sure something
else happens to her too.” He spoke nonchalantly, but danger lurked
in every syllable.
    “ When?” The word seared my
throat.
    “ Tomorrow.”
    “ What else do you want?” I
asked, because surely he wasn’t going to give me Vi and then allow
me to scurry home to report to Jag. I feared that if I made this
deal—any deal—with Director Myers that he’d exploit it for the rest
of my life. I might never be free from him.
    “ I want Jag
Barque.”
    “ He’s impossible to cage,”
I said. I’d lived the past two years watching him. By now, I could
predict his decisions about half the time. The other half left me
shaking my