I stopped in my tracks, delight spreading like honey across my face.

“And look! You bought these cookies instead of making them. My stomach and I thank you.”

I puffed out a breath to feign annoyance. “Ha-ha. Brother Bear the comedian.”

“Could be. Those bears learned how to do everything. How did I go so wrong as to not read you a book teaching you how to cook?”

I snatched up an Oreo and threw it at his head, but we were both grinning like forest animals sitting down to a feast of grilled salmon and wild berries.

The conversation rolls through my mind now, lodging in my throat like a section of honeycomb. I just need to see Archie. Talk to him once more, and I’ll know that the thoughts buzzing around my head are ludicrous.

I grab two fistfuls of the loosened sheet. Now that I’m alone with my thoughts, I finally let myself remember the Voice’s words:

Lalana’s secret admirer grows up to be the Virus Maker.

There. She said it. An equation as clear as 1 + 1 = 2.

But that doesn’t mean I have to believe her.

She straight-up lied to me about Bandit. Which means I can’t trust anything she’s told me.

Maybe my actual target really is Lee Jenkins. He’s cruel enough. He has access to time travel through his relationship with his old friend Cristela.

Or, hell, maybe it’s Cristela herself. The poison that made Bandit sick didn’t get into the cupcake by itself, and she admitted that time travel is her passion.

And then… And then…there’s Zeke. I didn’t want to entertain the possibility before, but he has the scientific expertise. Charlie even expressed interest in his research.

But Zeke’s my boyfriend in the future. My husband. Does that automatically absolve him? Or is that the very reason the future chose me to go on this mission?

I gulp at the air, my pulse racing faster and faster. I feel guilty even working through this analysis. But in the future, people are dead. More are dying. I have to go down this path. I have to view the suspects objectively. I have to consider the possibility that the person I need to kill might…be…my brother.

NO! my mind screams. My stomach heaves. Every cell in my body revolts.

I dig my fingernails into my palm until I feel the pain at my core. Just consider it. You owe the future this much. Is it possible that Archie is the target?

He’s always had a soft spot for Lalana. He would look at her whenever she was around, a small smile on his face. Add in the telling quote from the spindle, and it’s pretty clear he’s the one in love with her.

Does that mean he’s the Virus Maker?