The woman with the dark hair stood in the doorway, the handgun floating expertly in her right hand. She paused there for a moment, listening. Then she spoke.

“You don’t have to die, Katie. You know that, don’t you?”

Hailey felt the blood rushing into her cheeks. She hadn’t heard that name in a long, long time.

“I just want the eagle,” the woman continued. “The people I work for have been chasing that eagle for a very long time. Give it to me, and you can go back to the life you’ve created for yourself.”

Somehow, the woman knew who she really was. But if that was supposed to frighten Hailey, well, it had the opposite effect. She felt anger boiling inside her. This woman had no idea what she’d gone through to get from Katie to Hailey.

“The eagle is worthless,” Hailey hissed, from behind the barrels.

“You know that’s not true. Something is hidden in the shape of its wings that is more valuable than either of us can imagine.”

“You were listening in on the bar.”

“I wasn’t the only one. Which is why I don’t have time to play with you.”

Hailey felt her anger building.

“I know why your employers want the eagle. But it just contains the equation, not the solution. I’m a mathematician. Trust me, an equation like this could take years, lifetimes to solve.”

Hailey wasn’t simply stalling. She was telling the woman the truth. The eagle was a blueprint, but on its own, so complex it might not even be possible to decipher. The end result—the bell, the precise tone that could transform one metal to another, was something else. Somewhere else.

But the woman didn’t seem to care. She started forward, toward the barrels, one heel click at a time.

“To the people who pay me, lifetimes are cheap. Don’t be a fool, Katie. Give me the eagle and you can walk out of here.”

The sound of the woman’s heels against the faux wooden dock stopped. Hailey held her breath. She glanced up and realized for the first time that the darkness to her right was actually made up of a plane of incredibly smooth black glass. She caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the strange glass—and realized the woman could see the reflection, too.

“It’s over, Katie.”

Hailey rose to her feet, facing the woman. She held the eagle in front of her, a pathetic shield.

“My name’s not Katie,” she started, as the woman raised the gun—