It’s not what I expected, and I have trouble wrapping my brain around it. I should be relieved. The mayor isn’t going after me after all. But instead, I’m panicked. Someone’s about to die. Again. Like Dopney.

My entire body trembling, I text Emi: Next attack—Water Tower—protestors

I send the same message to Irving.

The car’s dashboard reads 7:10. The attack is in twenty minutes. How will anyone get there in time, including the Swarm?

“When we get to the Shedd,” Cullen says, “Richard will have a stock response for us to parrot all night. The guy’s a control freak, but he’s good with stuff like this.”

Cullen swigs his water as the world begins spinning in slow motion. The car is stuck in a complete standstill. In the rearview mirror, the driver’s face glows red from the brake lights in front of him. My heart beats so forcefully, it’s the only sound I hear. I need to get there, record it, catch Lip Spikes’ steely face and plaster it all over the Internet so everyone knows exactly who he is and what he’s done. But as I open the door of the town car and jump out, the driving force is the overwhelming urge to warn them—to save them all.

Both lanes on State Street are gridlocked. Clutching my purse, I run around the back of the car. Squeeze between it and the taxi close behind. I cross the northbound lane and start running. The wind bites at my face. Flurries thicken. They smack my eyes. In the distance, protestors shout. I listen for screams of alarm, but the booming noise sounds angry, not fearful.

As I round the corner to Pearson, my foot gets stuck, yanking me back. I fall against the sidewalk, scraping my knee, my palms. Before I can look, someone jerks my heel out from between the metal slats of a city grate.

Cullen looks down at me with near abhorrence. “What are you doing?” He flips the collar of his tuxedo up around his neck, rubs his hands together. Small puffs of steam circle his nose.

I scramble to my feet. “Those people . . .” I try to breathe, but the pressure squeezing my chest is torturous. “They’re in danger.” I start jogging in heels toward the Water Tower, dodging people on the sidewalk as I go.

Cullen catches up to me. He grabs my wrist and begins dragging me the other way, back toward the car. “Don’t be stupid.”

I pull against him, but Cullen tightens his grip until he’s pinching my skin. I try to shake him off. “We have to warn them.”

“About what?” He stops and shouts at me. “What aren’t you telling me?”