Dark purple shadows fan out beneath his eyes like brushstrokes. His hands wring together. He shakes his head as part of some conversation he’s having with himself. “I’ll talk. I’ll share everything I know about the Swarm. What I told your dad. And everything I’ve learned since.” His jaw clenches. His eyes flash in the light.

I should feel something. A tiny spark should ignite inside me, eager for this moment. What he’s offering to do is better than any lead I’ve tried to pursue. It beats any tangible evidence I could have conjured. At the very least I should be scared for what it means for him and his family. If he does this, he and his parents will wind up dead like my dad, framed like Morrell, or imprisoned, which is what he tried to prevent by joining the Swarm in the first place.

But I feel nothing.

“I should have done it earlier,” he whispers.

“No.” No matter what I’ve tried, the Swarm has always been a step ahead. Whoever’s running it is smart, not likely to give up. “They silence people too easily. They’ll find a way to discredit you and sweep it under the rug.”

Ryan peers up at me. His hands clench together, flexing every muscle in his arms.

“We need others.” My voice is raspy. I fight to sound assertive. “You’re not the only one being forced into it. We need to get others to come forward. The more people we have, the harder it is to eliminate us.”

Ryan’s hands twist. “I’ll find them.” We sit in silence, traced by the light thrum of the air conditioning. Ryan understands the position this puts him in. He knows the implications of what he’s committing to, probably better than I do. It’s nothing I could ever ask of him, of anyone really, knowing what the Swarm is capable of. After what they did to Adam, what they wanted to do to me. But I can’t sit back and let them keep getting away with any of it.

Neither can he.

“Get some sleep,” he says, leaning back in the chair where the light no longer hits his face.

“What are you going to do?” I ask.

“I won’t leave you again.” His voice is low, aching. “I’ll be here.”

I want to smile, but my lips won’t move that way. Not with Adam’s life hanging in the balance. Instead, I sink into the down engulfing me. I can feel the sedatives overpowering me.

“Ryan,” I say. His face is like the kid in his family picture, vulnerable, hopeful. I glance at my walls plastered with pictures of Hana, checking one more time for insects. “Start with Amy London.”

He nods.

The heaviness wins, and I give into it.

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24