“I’ll bring what I can back from Bainbridge,” Nik said.

Dorman nodded a thanks, but his stare fixed on me. “We need a cure, Kat. Have you made any progress?”

“I—” I cleared my throat. “I’m working on it.”

I understood now why the cards led me back here—for motivation. For resolve. I had let Garth distract me, lending a sense of blissful normalcy to a situation that was anything but normal. Dire was more like it. If this disease spread beyond the Tent District and remained unchecked, it would cause chaos and mayhem, not to mention unfathomable loads of destruction. I had the ugly suspicion that that had been the point of Sammy’s “escape” all along. The Ouroboros Corporation or the Senate or whoever was ultimately responsible was even more demented than I’d ever imagined.

And if I was right, it begged the question—what happened to the other six kids the Ouroboros scientists had separated out? Had they been guinea pigs for some other twisted project? Or were there more infected kids out and about, spreading the disease with abandon?

My hands balled into fists. “Are there any other new developments?”

Dorman shook his head.

“Alright.” I turned to the open doorway, then glanced over my shoulder. “Next time you see me, I’ll have some answers for you.” I marched through the doorway, fully expecting to find myself back in Garth’s condo.

Yeah, not so much.

Instead, the doorway transported me right where it was supposed to—straight into the rest of the hangar-turned-hospital. I stopped and turned around, eyebrows scrunched together.

Nik watched me through the doorway, his head cocked to the side, and Dorman was craning his neck to see. Both looked as confused as I felt.

“Damn it,” I grumbled, scowling. It looked like my gateways only worked one way. I hadn’t been expecting that. Now, I’d have to draw another to get back. I knew it had seemed too easy. I stomped back into the smaller sick room and huffed out a breath. “I need a wall and a marker,” I said. “Or some paint.”

Dorman looked at Nik. “You can finish up here on your own?”

Nik nodded.

“Alright.” Dorman headed to the not-a-gateway doorway. “Come with me, Kat. You can use my office.”

I glanced at Nik, meeting his eye and offering him a weak smile before following Dorman. He didn’t return it. He just stared back at me, his face blank. But his pale blue eyes . . . they were filled with something deep and dark, with something I couldn’t identify. Or something I didn’t want to identify.

I turned away from him and jogged to catch up to Dorman.

It was nearly two in the afternoon by the time I felt that surge of power bringing the second gateway to life.

Dorman whistled. “That’s quite a trick.” He was behind me, leaning on his desk as he watched me work. His office was at the base of what had once been an air traffic control tower—back when there’d been way more air traffic to control.