“Come on,” I said, bolting down the hallway toward the dorms. We were almost there when I heard something and threw an arm out to catch Elliot as I skidded to a stop. He let out a muffled grunt as my arm caught him in the stomach. Before he could say anything, I slapped my hand over his mouth and dragged him into the shadows. My heart was hammering hard inside my chest, but I could just make out the sound of two hushed but all too familiar voices. Elliot tensed; he’d heard us too. I carefully took my hand off his mouth as a second later a different Elliot and Regan emerged from the darkness, creeping down the hallway in their pajamas. Not a different Regan and Elliot, I reminded myself as we watched the figures disappear around the corner—a past version of ourselves. That was us earlier that night, heading toward the Glitch room with no idea how we were going to get the door open. Present Elliot’s jaw had dropped open, and I reached over and put my hand under his chin, closing his mouth with a faint click of teeth. Roused from his shock, he turned to look at me.

“Come on,” I said, darting out of the shadows and toward the dorm rooms the past versions of ourselves had just left. Elliot caught up to me right outside the door. “Get Sam, Corban, and Blake and get back to the Academy,” I said. “I’ll be right behind you.” To his credit, Elliot didn’t try to ask me a million questions; instead he just turned and disappeared through the dark doorway of the boys’ dormitory. I realized that it was because he trusted me. I let that sink in for a second before entering the dorm that I’d left only an hour ago. Well, I amended, the Regan I’d just seen in the hall had only left it a minute ago. I shook my head, choosing not to think about how muddled and confusing time traveling was if you really thought about it long enough, and slipped into the dark dorm room.

My first instinct was to turn on the lights, but as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I decided against it. I was outnumbered, and the element of surprise was going to be key. I moved quickly over to Tess’s and Eliana’s beds, clicking the Chaos Cuffs onto their wrists before they were even awake. I was just turning to Serina’s bunk when I felt an arm snake out around my neck and squeeze.

“Drop it,” Serina hissed in my ear as something sharp pressed against the small of my back.

“Serina, it’s me, Regan,” I said.