“Assigned to me, following me. She’s the reason —” I caught myself just before I spoke the word that would have meant our death. Just before I could say we. The ultimate truth that he would see as the ultimate lie—playing on his deepest wishes, his deepest pain. He would never see that it was possible for his wish to be true. He would only see a dangerous liar looking out through the eyes he’d loved.

“The reason?” he prompted.

“The reason I ran away,” I breathed. “The reason I came here.”

Not entirely true, but not entirely a lie, either.

Jared stared at me, his mouth half-open, as he tried to process this. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Ian was peering through the hole again, his vivid blue eyes wide with surprise. There was blood, dark on his pale lips.

“You ran away from a Seeker? But you’re one of them!” Jared struggled to compose himself, to get back to his interrogation. “Why would it follow you? What did it want?”

I swallowed; the sound seemed unnaturally loud. “She wanted you. You and Jamie.”

His expression hardened. “And you were trying to lead it here?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t… I…” How could I explain it? He’d never accept the truth.

“What?”

“I… didn’t want to tell her. I don’t like her.”

He blinked, confused again. “Don’t you all have to like everyone?”

“We’re supposed to,” I admitted, coloring with shame.

“Who did you tell about this place?” Ian asked over Jared’s shoulder. Jared scowled but kept his eyes on my face.

“I couldn’t tell—I didn’t know.… I just saw the lines. The lines on the album. I drew them for the Seeker… but we didn’t know what they were. She still thinks they’re a road map.” I couldn’t seem to stop talking. I tried to make the words come slower, to protect myself from a slip.

“What do you mean you didn’t know what they were? You’re here.” Jared’s hand flexed toward me but dropped before it closed the small distance.

“I… I was having trouble with my… with the… with her memory. I didn’t understand… I couldn’t access everything. There were walls. That’s why the Seeker was assigned to me, waiting for me to unlock the rest.” Too much, too much. I bit my tongue.

Ian and Jared exchanged a look. They’d never heard anything like this before. They didn’t trust me, but they wanted so desperately to believe it was possible. They wanted it too much. That made them fear.

Jared’s voice whipped out with a sudden harshness. “Were you able to access my cabin?”

“Not for a long time.”

“And then you told the Seeker.”

“No.”

“No? Why not?”

“Because… by the time I could remember it… I didn’t want to tell her.”