>>It’s not his fault. It was designed that way. Designed so that no one would be able to find it—no baku GPS would ever lead there. In fact, as you saw, everything is designed to lead away from there.

I swallow, glancing at Tobias as he struggles to process the information. It’s looking more and more likely that something seriously shady is going on. I know the feeling. I’m struggling too. But while I have the benefit of distance, Tobias and his family are directly involved.

“Hey, Tobias,” I say. “Can you show me where the bathroom is?”

“Oh, sure.” He answers as if he’s in some kind of trance, and I can see the others’ eyes following us as we leave.

“It’s just down here,” he says, but I don’t walk with him. Instead, I take his hand and lead him in the opposite direction. We walk toward the vast pyramid-shaped window, which looks out over the lake. There’s soft snow falling outside: serene, beautiful, and calming.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, when we’re out of earshot of the others.

“Do you think…do you think my whole family knows the truth and they’ve just been keeping it from me?”

“I don’t know,” I say, honestly. “But if they do know, they probably want to protect you.”

“But what if they’re just waiting to see if I’m worthy of knowing?”

I put my hand over his. “You’re amazing at everything you do, Tobias. You don’t know the extent of Eric Smith’s manipulation. They might be desperate to tell you everything, but they can’t.”

He pulls away from my touch, his hands closing into fists. “What if I’m not good enough to join their inner circle, Lacey? I already lost the baku battles.”

“That doesn’t mean anything…”

He stares at me. “What if I become one of the employees who are ‘updated,’ just like your mom?”

I pause for a moment. Then I shake my head. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Why not?”

“Because no one is going to be like that,” I say fiercely. “We’re going to make sure of it. No matter how clever or how ambitious or how ordinary anyone is—no one deserves to have their choices taken away from them. We’re going to stop it.”

Aero shimmers with a notification. “Oh no,” says Tobias.

“What is it?” I ask, alarmed by his state of panic.

“I didn’t realize how late it is. We’d better get ready for the party. If we don’t, my mom will make sure we’re not alive to see tomorrow.”

25

“Is this the only thing you brought to wear?”

Zora picks a black corduroy pinafore dress up out of my suitcase, wrinkling her nose as she holds it out, as if it smells.