She raised an eyebrow. “Ty?”

I nodded.

“The best.” She gave a warm grin.

I wondered what exactly was between the two of them. They seemed like good friends. Their back and forth reminded me of how Roan and I talked to each other.

A tear ran down my cheek, and I slapped my hand over my mouth as a sob slipped free.

Roan. God. I missed him. So much. My chest felt like it was imploding. I needed him here with me. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t breathe. I—

Audrey grabbed my arm, hard. “I need you to breathe. I need you to stay with me because I have to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to freak.”

Six in. Three out. Three in. Six out. I swallowed down the sobs and blinked the tears from my eyes. “Okay.”

“Are you—” She mouthed “Aunare.” My eyes widened, and she squeezed my hand. “Okay. I can deal with this. I’m going to give you the nanos, but I’m also going to give you a neural inhibitor, okay?”

“That will help?” I hadn’t heard of that before.

“Not with everything, but it’ll be manageable.” She moved her hand to hold mine. “Sort of. With very few side effects.”

Very few didn’t mean none. “You won’t tell—”

“No, and we don’t allow monitoring in the rooms. Aside from the bunks and bathrooms, this is the one place you’re not watched.”

“Why would you help me? Why not turn me in?” She had no reason to help me out like this. If anyone in the company found out that she’d covered up for me, she’d be just as dead as me.

“Because we have to look out for each other.” She gave my hand two quick squeezes. “I understand completely what’s at stake for you. For both of us.”

I took a second to really look at her again. Tall. She was at least a few inches taller than my five feet, seven inches. Slightly pointed chin. Eyes a little too big. The freckles and red hair threw me off. Plus, I’d never met another halfer before. And yet here—of all places—I’d found someone like me.

I wanted to believe that she had a way around the effects nanos had on Aunare, but I wasn’t sure. I was in pain, and if there was a choice, I wanted to be able to walk. So I really only had one option.

“Okay.” My voice shook. “Let’s do it.” That came out a little better, but not much.

“Thank you for trusting me.” She gave me a sad smile. “You’ll be okay. Promise.”

I hoped she was right. Otherwise, I was up for a seriously rough night.

Chapter Twenty-Two