She shakes her head and a smile forms on her lips; all the while her eyes accuse me of playing a cruel trick on her. “No,” she says, almost laughing. “Dad’s not dead. He was in the apartment; he was waiting with me. He’s still there, he’s waiting for us to come for him. He’s not dead.”

“Molly, he died on the day I found you. He died saving our lives from Smilers—or Blinkers, whatever you call them—he died, Molly. I’m sorry.”

Tears build and then spill silently from both my sister’s computer-generated eyes. “Then why did you come back for me?” she asks. “He was alive until you came.”

As much as it hurts to see Molly in pain, there is a part of me that is relieved to see emotion from her, relieved to see that she’s still in there somewhere.

“Molly, I—”

“No!” she yells. “He was alive! He was alive!”

“I’m sorry—”

“It’s your fault he’s dead!”

At that I feel an eruption of anger within me, the first real, full emotion I have felt since entering Purgatory. “And what would have happened if I hadn’t come for you, Molly? You were strung out on Ebb, he was a Smiler, you would both be dead if I hadn’t come.”

“Fuck you,” she hisses through clenched teeth, and turns, leaving the hotel bar at a run.

Get out quickly. Get out quickly. Again, these unfamiliar words flicker in my mind like a dying light. I ignore them as I sigh and feel sorrow well up in me. Virtual tears fall from my eyes, but with no real physical form I can’t feel them.

“Fuck,” I whisper to myself.

“How do we get out of here?” Malachai asks, leaning closer to Dr. Price, rage etched on his face.

Get out quickly.

“Why would you want to get out?” the old man asks.

“Because this place isn’t sanctuary,” Malachai says. “This is just a hiding place for cowards.”

Dr. Price holds Malachai’s gaze for a long time before replying. “Do you know what Phase Three of Happy’s plan is?” he asks, sipping at clear alcohol that he can neither taste nor feel.

“No,” I reply, suddenly listening with intent.