I was quiet for a bit, feeling the coarse, curly threads of Taema’s hair. She could annoy me so much sometimes, but obviously I didn’t want to lose her. Death did scare me something fierce. Because it’d be the first time I’d be alone.

I also knew that we had to leave the Hearth, or we didn’t have a shot. Taema hadn’t wanted to research conjoined twins on the tablet. She was afraid of what we might find—though I didn’t understand what exactly she thought that might be. So when she fell asleep and the tablet was still on, I’d researched on my own.

I knew that everyone out there could change how they looked, and that most did. There was very little obesity, few eating disorders, unsightly scars or pockmarks or missing limbs. Everyone was whole. Perfect. And I knew that out there, there were no conjoined twins. I couldn’t find any, not anywhere. Maybe they were all aborted, never even had a chance to live, or “fixed” as soon as they were born.

So even if we did get out, how would people react? It explained the way the people in the supply ships acted around us. Even those grunt monkeys supervising the drones were all beautiful. But getting out still seemed better than sitting here, waiting to die. I knew we only had one chance of getting out, although neither of us wanted to put them in such a tight spot:

“Mom and Dad will know.”

16. Taema

SIXTEEN

TAEMA

The next day, I’m alone.

Nazarin’s gone to the other safe house to check in with his SFPD superiors. He’s going to dig into plastic surgery records at a bunch of flesh parlors, to see if Vuk has any official history there. It’s useless—if Vuk was actually Adam, then he won’t have an official record of even existing, much less getting plastic surgery.

Tomorrow Nazarin has a busy day with the Ratel, as it’s not long until Saturday, the night of the party, and there’s lots to do. Saturday is the night when he might finally meet Ensi, face to face.

I can’t reconcile the image of Adam, that sweet boy, grown up into a hardened killer. Maybe I’m wrong about it all, but I don’t think I am. But then, what do I know about people? My sister could be a murderer too, and I can’t forget how I acted in Mia’s Vervescape.