Hayden closed his eyes and let out a harsh sound before he pushed himself up on his knees. His hands fell harmlessly to his sides.

Disappointment crashed over me. I’d wanted him to pull me into his body like he’d done before, mimicking things we really couldn’t do.

“So… what did you wake me up for?” he asked, his voice thick.

It took me a minute to remember what had been so important. “My parentsthey knew about Olivia’s gift.”

He rolled off my legs and stood. I had a feeling he purposely put distance between us as he struggled to pay attention to what I’d said. “What do you mean?”

I sat up, forcing the thick cobwebs of half-sleep and something far more distracting from my thoughts. I fixed my top, flushing like crazy. “When Parker was in my head, I saw the accident again. I don’t know how I missed it, but I guess I’d been so freaked out after everything, I just didn’t think.”

“Understandable.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What did you remember?”

I told Hayden what my mom had said and how Dad had answered. While I talked, he shifted further into the shadows, where the dimming light of the candles couldn’t reach.

“Olivia must have used her gift before she brought you back,” Hayden said.

“Yeah, but who are ‘they?’ The ones who my mom said he shouldn’t have told? Do you think he told the people who caused the accident?”

A full minute passed before he answered. “I don’t know, Ember. That doesn’t make sense. Maybe your memory is wrong.”

“It’s not wrong, Hayden. I know what I heard.”

“Your parents wouldn’t have known who to go to even if Olivia raised an army of the dead,” he said. “We don’t advertise what we areneither does the Facility. We find the gifted; they don’t find us. How would your parents have known who to go to?”

“I don’t know,” I said tightly. “They had to’ve known. Or maybe someone came to them first.” An a-ha moment hit me. “You said before that Liz can sense the giftedwhen they are born, right? And she sensed me when I came back?”

“Yeah.”

“And she knew about Olivia, right? You said so yourself.”

“So what? Just because Liz knew about Olivia doesn’t mean anything. Wait. Do you really think my fatherAunt Liz, who doesn’t even like to kill a mousewould’ve orchestrated a car accident to get to Olivia?”

I scowled into the general vicinity of where I thought Hayden stood. “Yeah, I do. Or maybe Liz and Kurt did. They seem awful chummy with one another, and Liz treats Olivia like she’s her damn daughter.”

“That’s because she cares for her.” Hayden shook his head. “Look, none of this makes sense.”

“Exactly,” I said.