“His mum wanted nothing to do with Malik after the divorce, so she took him off the grid,” Arryn says. “It was years before Malik was able to locate them, and by then, the twins had both embraced their Speaking abilities, with Dante already having found a home with the Remnants. He and Enzo were never close growing up, but once he learned that his brother was at Lengard, that was the breaking point for Dante. He severed all ties with Enz after that.”

Having lost an entire childhood of memories with my own brother, I don’t like hearing that Enzo and Dante have such a challenging relationship. But I try to stay focused. “So … you tipped off Lengard about Luna Park just so you could get inside the facility and make sure Enzo was safe?” I quickly add, “And to check in on Vanik?”

At Riley’s nod, I continue, “And the Remnants learned about you from Liana, whose vision made her think you were a breakout?” I recall then that Liana wasn’t sure, that something about what she’d seen had made her uncertain. And in truth, Riley wasn’t a breakout, but he nods again in answer to my question. “So … SCARS …?”

“We had to call them in to keep you guys distracted and make sure Lengard were the ones who ‘captured’ me,” Riley says. “If not for Liana’s vision, we wouldn’t have needed the diversion. But I also never would have crossed paths with you, so …” He trails off with a shrug.

“I also never would have helped get you out of Lengard,” I point out. “Tipping them off was a risky move.” I cock my head to the side and wonder out loud, “Wait a minute. Why did you need to get captured at all? Why not just go in through some back entrance and avoid being seen?” I pause and backtrack further, “And why Luna Park, for that matter?”

“Second answer,” Riley says, shifting his weight between his feet, “is that I know Luna Park’s layout well enough to have given them a realistic runaround before they ‘caught’ me, but without any collateral damage to bystanders should any Speaking attempts of theirs go awry.”

I recall what Arryn said about SCARS keeping the non-Speaking community safe, and I offer a murmur of understanding. “And being captured?”