He could talk for hours about this subject, but for now, he feels done. Or like he’s told them what the glasses are supposed to do, and either they think he’s crazy or they don’t.

“So I cut up the two-way mirror and made glasses out of them.”

He feels like he can hear the seconds ticking. Then:

“Genius,” Athena says. “Absolutely genius.”

“Like I said,” Henry says.

One of the seated men raises a finger, as if about to debate. Then he lowers it.

“Well, I think that’s one of the brightest ideas I’ve ever heard,” he says.

“Really?” Tom says. “You do?”

“Have you tried them out?” Athena asks.

“No.” He feels ashamed of this answer.

“That’s okay,” she says. “You’re going to.”

Her face looks like one large smile. As if she has a second, hidden smile behind her lips.

“May I?” she asks, reaching for the glasses.

Tom hands them to her. She hands them to the man seated to her right. Her eyes remain fixed on Tom.

You’re going to.

What did she mean?

The man tries the glasses on.

“We’ll have to modify these,” he says. “Make sure there’s no peripheral vision.”

“They’re the safety brigade,” Athena says to Tom. “I rather liked them the way you had them. Risky. And do you have the rest of the mirror?”

“No,” Tom says. He wishes he did.

“We do,” a man standing deeper in the tent says.

“Where?” Athena asks.

“The old Farmer Jack. The grocery store office, just like the kid’s mom said.”

A moment of silence follows. Athena looks to the glasses. Tom does, too, sees her eyes reflected in them.

She looks happier than Malorie ever has.

“Do you have one here?” Tom suddenly asks. He can’t help but ask it. The census papers said the people of Indian River claimed to have caught one.

He doesn’t need to explain what he means. These people understand.

“If you mean do we have one locked up in some sort of cage, then no,” Athena says. “But there’s no shortage of creatures in Indian River.”

Tom hears heavier activity outside. Malorie’s words begin to rise in his head and he cuts them off, can almost see the blood of them, slashed.

“Get the mirror from the grocery store,” Athena says. She hasn’t taken her eyes off Tom, and for a second he thinks she’s telling him to do it. But a man near the back of the tent moves to the door.

Are they going to test his glasses? Right now?

You’re going to.

“So this is how it works,” Athena says. “We have volunteers. A long list of them. People who have decided it’s wiser to risk their lives than to hide behind a blanket. People like you, Tom.”