I smile. “I wouldn’t have survived the day without you.”

“Don’t forget about Top’s.”

“I won’t!” I say with a groan. Then the elevator doors slide shut and I’m left alone in the hallway. Well, alone—except for Slick.

>>Your mom and Petal are inside.

The information soothes the part of me that worried Mom might be still at work. I open the door, and the smell of garlic bread baking in the oven hits my nostrils.

She smiles at me as I walk in, turning her head away from the pot on the stove, where she’s stirring some pasta sauce. “Hello, honey, how was your day?”

I jump up onto one of the stools, leaning my elbows on the counter. Slick scurries down my arm onto the countertop, beaming the time in front of me. “Did you get my messages?” I pause, waiting for her outrage at my expulsion. “You know…about how I wasn’t allowed in to school?”

Mom has turned back to the sauce now, and she doesn’t react.

I continue babbling. “It’s okay though, because Zora gave me an idea for how I can get back to Profectus. But first, did you talk to Eric?”

I wait for Mom to answer, but she’s still stirring.

“Mom?” I ask again, confused as to whether she’s listening to me. Petal doesn’t appear to be playing any music or anything to distract her. She taps the side of the wooden spoon against the edge of the saucepan, then turns around.

“What are you talking about, honey?”

“Last night…you said you were going to call up Eric Smith.”

She gives me a totally blank look and shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lacey.”

A chill creeps down my spine. Something is not right. “But Mom—last night…”

She cuts me off. “Lacey, I’m tired. I’ve worked a long shift, and I want to have an early dinner and then go to bed. I’ve just gotten you back from the hospital. I’m sorry about your disappointment with Profectus, but you’re going to St. Agnes, where your best friend is with you. It’s all worked out in the end.”

“But it hasn’t worked out! Don’t you want answers too? Like about why I was hurt?”

Mom sighs. “I’m just happy you’re healthy again.”

“What about how Carter stole Jinx from me?”

“You’ve got a perfectly good, functional baku now, in Slick.”

“And what about what’s going on at Moncha Corp? No one’s seen Monica Chan in months…something’s wrong, I know it is.”