I don’t even know what to think. I’ve likely ruined everything. What Levi and I had…and my friendship with Ollie… Because things can’t stay the way they are. Inevitably, what I’ve done is going to hurt people. Myself included.

We convene in the Tower Room later that night to discuss the Legacy Project, and what Gravelle could possibly want from all of them. I’m a ball of nerves when I settle into a chair between Pru and Maude, deliberately avoiding Ollie and Levi. When my eyes land involuntarily on Levi across the room, I feel that flip in my stomach again and strike up a conversation with Pru to distract myself. It doesn’t work; I still feel him there, and I wonder with every passing second whether or not he notices me.

My friends throw out theories—what Gravelle could be setting up this year to destroy their DNA families. They’re sure that whatever it is, he’s using the Similars, once again, to do his dirty work. We talk for hours, but without reaching much of a conclusion. We’re as confused as we were earlier. But one thing’s clear. We all feel a sense of dread we can’t overcome. Whatever Gravelle is going to make the Similars do, it’s sure to be something awful.

I take my time leaving the Tower Room in hopes I can walk back to my dorm room alone. I still haven’t processed what happened with Ollie. And Levi’s return… It’s too much for me to handle in the span of a few hours. I linger behind, the last one to leave the room—but when I step into the dimly lit spiral stairway, Levi’s standing there, hands in his pockets. The shadowy light emphasizes his strong, broad shoulders. His face is a mask, like always.

I nearly keel over from the intensity of what I feel for him in that moment. Longing, because I’ve missed him more than I would have thought possible. Elation, because he’s safe, and he’s here. Anguish, because now, after everything that’s transpired, I have no idea if he feels the same way about me.

“Levi, I… Earlier today. Me and Ollie—”

“Don’t,” he says softly. “You thought I wasn’t coming back.”

“I prayed you would. I hoped, I begged the universe.”

“And then you moved on.”

He says it so emotionlessly, so point-blank, I gasp for breath. I didn’t move on. That’s not what happened! I want to shout. But I don’t, because even I don’t understand it.

“I didn’t come back here for you,” Levi says. “I came back because I had a job to do. To issue Gravelle’s warning. And because I would have done anything to get off that island. That’s all.”