“Dash, I’m gonna need your help. And possibly a hug,” I add, hoping Dash appreciates my sarcasm. He can’t hug me, obviously; he’s 100 percent virtual.

“Any time, Emma,” Dash responds. His jovial voice is a salve to me. I survey the familiar space, settling my gaze on the few photographs and books that Pru and I left here over the summer. I drop my suitcase by my bare-bones desk, then glance out at Dark Lake, noting how black and gleaming it looks today, in the crisp autumn sun.

“Is there an email…” I can barely say it. “From Gravelle?”

“Affirmative,” Dash responds. “Would you like me to open it?”

“Yes,” I whisper, though I’m terrified by what it might say.

I close my eyes, bracing myself.

“Emmaline,” Dash’s voice warns.

I open my eyes. “What? What is it?”

“Perhaps you should reconsider—”

I don’t let him finish that thought. I look down at my plum screen. A photo fills it entirely.

It’s a close-up of a face. Levi’s face.

He’s badly bruised, with blood caked around his nose and a puffy red eyelid, like someone punched him, hard. That eye is swollen entirely shut. The other looks glossy and distant, and his mouth is unsmiling.

“Emma, don’t—”

But Dash is powerless to stop me from reading the caption underneath the picture.

I warned you when you left my island, Eden. You should have listened. Levi stays here. Any and all correspondence he receives will result in more of this. Yes, he heals quickly. But this is nothing compared to the mind control. I know you remember my virtual simulations. As I recall, you’re the only one who ever broke out of them. Levi doesn’t possess your incomparable mental agility. Are we clear?

Fondly,

A. Gravelle

The Nine

An hour later, I arrive at the chapel for assembly. I have to work hard to calm myself. To banish that picture of Levi from my mind long enough to act like a functioning human being. I step onto the lawn to join my friends and notice that Madison’s standing a few feet from us, and she’s not alone. Jago’s original, Jake Choate, is next to her, and on her other side is Archer de Leon. I knew Jake would be returning for a fifth year at Darkwood, to play soccer and pad his college applications with some extra APs. But I have no idea what Archer’s doing on campus. Given how he’s risen to fame these last few months, I would have assumed he’d be off doing celebrity stuff. He must be here to see his Similar, Ansel, because he’s waving in our direction.