A bit chilly? With the sun beginning to disappear behind the horizon and the wind blowing off the water, the temperature has to be in the single digits. Easily. But there’s also something pleasantly fresh about the feeling of the air whipping against my skin combined with the smell of sea salt tingling my nose. After being underground in Lengard and battling my dark memories, to be out in the open again offers a powerful sense of peace. Of liberation.

This is what we’re fighting for. This is what I want for the Speakers of Lengard—and for the Remnants, too. For all Speakers. Not to be imprisoned beneath the city, but to be integrated and flourishing within it.

But first, we have to stop Vanik. Wherever he is.

I rub my arm absentmindedly, again feeling the phantom prick of the needle stabbing into my skin. I glance over at the breakout, wondering how long until his sedative wears off and he awakens. I wonder what question I’ll ask him first: How do you know my name? Why did you run away from me? How long were you hiding? Why were you hiding?

The last two questions stem from my growing certainty that, despite how we keep referring to him, he’s not actually a breakout Speaker. As I realized when I first caught a glimpse of his face, this boy—young man, really—is too old. I’d hazard a guess that he’s known about his Speaking ability for years. The question is, why didn’t he hit the radar before last night? For Lengard, too, not just the Remnants?

Then again … Arryn mentioned that she was nearly seventeen before she was discovered. But her ability relies on her being around other Speakers—she echoes their power, and the first Speaker she met was that day outside the State Library. The likelihood of the same being true for this boy …

Perhaps it’s something I should ask Liana. She might be able to offer some clarity, including how her own ability can seek out and find new Speakers like Arryn, like this boy … like me.

I try to keep my thoughts from spiraling too far as our ferry makes a quick stop at both Circular Quay and Fort Denison before heading straight to the zoo. There’s still enough light as we make our approach to the jetty, but it’ll soon be too dark to see much of anything. If we’d waited only a little longer, we might have been able to exit the ferry and head underground without needing to be invisible, but there are still too many people around in the growing dusk for us to risk that now.