We reached a warning sign made of carved wood that was pounded into the earth probably seventy years ago. It gave notice of the crevasse: a long shaft that went down several stories to where this cliff face was cracked. When we reached it, Jordan and I hopped over it.

The view at this point was breathtaking, not only of the power plant and its towers but also of the whole valley, the river, the rolling hills, the lush greenery. I breathed in deep through my nose and held it there: a mixture of pine, grass, wildflowers, moist soil, and whatever else grew in this miracle of nature.

“Sometimes when everything seems hopeless, when the world becomes too scary, when too many people are showing how mean or selfish or thoughtless they can be, when the ugliness gets overwhelming, I need this. I need this reminder of beauty,” I said, and turned to Jordan. “The world is a beautiful place, and I’m so glad you’re in mine.”

He set down the bag of explosives in a clump of brush and cupped my face in his hands.

“Maggie Gooding, we make a pretty good team,” he said, smiling. “Like Han Solo and Princess Leia.”

“Okay,” I said. “But I’m Han Solo.”

“As you wish.”

“Wrong mov—”

Suddenly his lips were pressed into mine—a gentle brush at first, then with more determination. I closed my eyes. My hands were against his chest, and I ran them down to his sides, pulling him closer as he wrapped his arms around my back. Forget Bradley Dunford. This was my first kiss. It was slow, soft, and lingering. It rushed through me like a river, with streams sprouting off to areas I didn’t know existed.

I opened my eyes for a moment to take him in, to revel in what was happening, finally—just in time to glimpse the pistol butt crashing onto Jordan’s head.

CHAPTER 45

Jordan

MY HEAD SWIRLED with pain. Maybe my skull was cracked. I definitely had a concussion; I was an expert on that by now.

And, you know, concussions are bad for you. As previously discussed, all the literature and cinematic evidence say so. Didn’t Alpha tell me to quit getting them way back when? I think he did. So he was inconsistent on top of everything else. Of course, I was assuming he had anything to do with this attack, ha ha.

Two black-suit guys—Scar, a.k.a. Kappa, and a new guy (Lambda? Mu?)—swam into focus. Yep.

Maggie was sitting on the ground in front of me. I didn’t know why. Everything else looked like the color and hue settings on my TV had been scrambled. I shook my head, as if that would reset my sight, but, no, the predominant color palette remained a pale yellow-green. The bushes were as pale as the tan duffel that held the explosives. The trees were silvery gray or dead. So I guess more than the hue was off.

“I knew our first kiss would be a knockout,” I muttered to Maggie.