“And not just humans,” Cora continued. “Also a couple of the Fremda group. They used to have two Similars. Now they’re down to the one, Brako. Kruro’s body was destroyed, but—”

She looked at him and gasped, then her face grew slack with epiphany. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Oh my God, I am such a fucking idiot.” She threw her legs over the side of the bed, looking at him urgently. “Brako isn’t the only option.”

“What’s the other option?”

“Obelus’s old body. The one in San Bernardino, the one that’s on ice. Sol told me at the Senate hearing that the location was compromised. I didn’t even consider it; I thought it was broken beyond repair.”

“Why would he want a dead body?”

“The body itself didn’t die; the living thing inside of it was removed to a smaller, more harmless body. But a Similar’s body isn’t alive; it can break, but it can’t die.”

Kaveh considered this, connecting what she was telling him with things he’d overheard while he was acting as Nikola’s interpreter. “Do you know when they’re moving it?”

“Soon. Maybe even tonight.”

“That might be our dear Beloved’s move,” he said.

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s afraid of humans in large groups, right?” said Kaveh. “And the location’s been compromised; that means that on top of the military detail that’s always surrounding the place, it’s surrounded by Gadsden Liners, and they might have the EMP van with them. They don’t have a way to take out that many humans without killing them, but the Gadsden idiots know how to take him down. He won’t risk going near them.”

She nodded in cautious agreement. “I think that’s it. He won’t go near the facility because they might have the ability to remotely take him out.”

“But if the body is removed from the facility, if it’s out on the open road . . .”

She looked at him, realization dawning as she followed his line of thought. “You don’t need to go into a secured remote facility, if instead you can just wait for them to bring the body of an alien death machine right to you.”

Cora was up in a flash, all but falling down the stairs, and Kaveh followed. By the time they reached the living room, Nikola was already on his feet, the door to the backyard already open.

“We think he’s waiting for them to take out Obelus’s old body from the San Bernardino facility,” she said. “Can you take us there?”

“NO.”

She gasped. “What do you mean?”

“I THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT. I WILL SEEK YOU AGAIN IF THIS TURNS OUT TO BE A FALSE LEAD.”

“Wait,” she said, hesitantly approaching Nikola. He had never noticed how much more afraid of Nikola she was than he. “Take me with you.”