Zu had only just darted out a few steps ahead of us when Liam turned to me and said, “Thanks for doing this. I’m glad you got what I meant.” He gave my braid a little playful tug. “I just wanted to ask them a few more questions.”

“And you didn’t want”—I nodded toward Zu—“to hear?”

He looked down at his feet, and when he looked back up, his ears were pink. “Yeah, but also…you were kind of distracting them.”

“What? I’m sorry I threatened them or whatever, but—”

“No—distracting them,” Liam repeated. “With your…face.”

“Oh.” I recovered quickly. “Did you get anything useful out of them?”

“The names of a few of the friendlier tribes, a few cities under lockdown for insurrection—stuff like that. I just wanted to get a sense of what was happening in Virginia.”

“I meant about the Slip Kid,” I said, maybe a little too eagerly.

“Nothing we didn’t have before. Apparently everyone takes some sacred oath not to reveal more information than that. Totally ridiculous.”

“They really wouldn’t give you any more information?” I said.

Liam looked down at the ground. “Greg made us an offer—a trade—but we turned him down.”

“What did he want?” What was so valuable that they wouldn’t trade it for the one thing that would reunite them with their families? Black Betty?

“Doesn’t matter,” Liam said, and there was finality in his voice. “If those numbnuts managed, I’m sure we can find East River ourselves. Eventually.”

“Yeah,” I said, with a light laugh. “True.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him hoist the pile of clothes onto his shoulder, his gaze never leaving where Zu was hopping and skipping through the field of cans and old magazines. I glanced down at a blond movie star’s face as we passed it, my eyes falling over the words SHE FINALLY TELLS ALL printed under her face.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Why are you looking for the Slip Kid?” I asked. I felt his eyes on me, and I knew what explanation was coming. “I mean, besides wanting to help Chubs and Zu get there, and trying to deliver Jack’s letter. Is it because you want to go home, or…?”

“Any reason in particular you’re asking?” His voice was even. Testing.

“The questions you were asking them about the camp,” I explained. “It just seemed like you were trying to figure something out.”

Liam didn’t reply for a long while, not until the tents they’d set up for the night were in sight. Even then, it wasn’t an answer. “Why do you want to find the Slip Kid?”

“Because I want to be able to see my grandmother.” Because I need to understand how to control my abilities before they destroy everyone I care about. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

Zu dashed through our tent flap, and the lantern in the tent lit up Chubs’s delighted face. When she handed his new things over, he folded her into an enormous hug, lifting her off her feet with the force of it.