Tobias looks at me, but I studiously look away. If I look at him, I risk breaking. I risk crying my eyes out, when I still need to be strong.

Tobias steps forward, but Nathan puts his hand possessively on his shoulder, dragging him further into the fold.

I exhale sharply.

It’s just you and me now, Jinx.

He doesn’t respond, but I feel him vibrate in my arms, burrowing his face against my stomach. My pulse slows, my breathing becomes more regular. Jinx is calming me down, and in response, I feel my mind sharpening.

“Pardem, why don’t you leash up where you belong?” Eric says, once my old teammates and the security team accompanying them are out of view. Monica’s old sloth baku shoots me an evil look as he languidly crawls toward his owner. Eric looks back at me.

>>I hate him.

Jinx hisses.

Jinx, you should run away now. You’re faster than them. I know it.

>>I’m not leaving you to face him alone.

I pull him close and bury my face in his fur.

“That’s sweet,” Eric says. “Your friends have made the right decision, you know. You should trust me that this is for the best.”

I glare up at him. “You put me in a coma.”

For the first time, a flicker of annoyance crosses Eric’s face. “If my team had reached you before Tobias, we would have had you back on your feet in no time. We had an antidote. I just needed to stop you so I could question you. You don’t understand, Lacey. I’m not some evil villain out to harm you. In fact, I admire you. I think you’re smart and a brilliant engineer, with a fantastic and agile mind. You’d be an asset to the Moncha Corporation. We need people like you working for us. In fact, I want to offer you a job at the end of this, once you’ve graduated from school, whether that’s Profectus or St. Agnes. But I need the machine that’s in your arms.”

“But why? Why do you need him so bad?”

“That, my dear, is far above your pay grade.”

I see him gesture to his security team—maybe to relieve me of Jinx. I grip him tightly and ask Eric another question to distract him.

“Why have you come here?” I blurt out. “You could have sent one of your minions, like you did to my apartment. Shouldn’t you be…I don’t know, preparing your big announcement?” My mind is racing to think of a way out, but there isn’t one. All I can think to do is keep him talking, even if what I’m saying is meaningless blather.