I need to move. I know this. But I’m frozen to the spot. My mind is stuck on Seymour, on how he ordered those guards to dispose of Theodora’s body. He called her a “distraction.” It feels like the guards are carrying away a little piece of me too, along with Theodora’s body. I think I know what that piece of me is: the hope Levi talked about last night. The kind that’s so dangerous because once you let yourself believe in it, you can only be disappointed.

The scene around me turns frantic. My friends, enraged by Theodora’s apparent murder, begin to organize. I hear Maude shout to the other Similars that she’ll meet them downstairs at the library entrance. From there they’ll head to the docks and board boats that can take us to the mainland.

A shot rings out. Maude’s fired a gun, and a guard across from her crumples. She must have successfully nabbed it from him and shot him. There’s a steel in her eyes I haven’t seen before. She is not taking Theodora’s death lightly. How could she? It’s why she’s willing to use the gun now. She’s been pushed past the breaking point. It’s now us or them. There is no other option.

I watch Maude march past the fallen guard, feeling like everything’s happening around me in a dream. I’m rooted to the spot, unable to make my feet work. My brain can’t order my body to move, not until I understand it—how Seymour could say those things about Theodora.

There can only be one explanation. He is not at all the man he has pretended to be.

I turn to face him, finally registering that his unassuming voice and appearance belies a cold-hearted and cruel interior. He’s just as much of a monster as his half brother is. Maybe more. “You’re part of this, aren’t you?” I say. “You lied to us when you told us there were only three Duplicates. You knew about the others—of course you did. We were naive enough to believe you. But I should have known. You and Gravelle have been working together this whole time. Haven’t you?”

Ollie grabs my hand, staring his uncle down. “It’s true. Isn’t it?”