“Like I mentioned before,” Riley says, “we couldn’t make contact with Enz, not even when sneaking around on the inside—which we did attempt, a few times.” He scratches his forehead. “Now we know it’s because of everything that went down with your escape and Vanik’s disappearance and Manning’s death. Falon had the whole facility on high alert, which made it impossible for us to seek out Enz without being caught, and vice versa. That’s why someone—me—had to go in deeper. The easiest way was by acting as a breakout. Even if only for a few hours—just long enough for Enz to learn I was there and get a message to me.”

“The plan was always for me to retrieve Riles soon after his capture,” Arryn tells me. She offers another sheepish look as she continues, “It just worked out well that you had a reason for wanting to come along and lend me your Creator power, even if I assumed that reason was just to save Ward. Seems I wasn’t the only one not telling the whole truth.” She leaves that hanging in the air between us for a moment, before finishing, “Melody— your mum—has worked very, very hard to maintain the secrecy of SCARS, in order to keep all those under its protection safe. Because of that, we couldn’t send a team in to free Riles once he’d made contact with Enz, and we couldn’t chance Enz not being able to break him out … so it was up to me. And you and Cami, as it turned out. All we had to do was get him back to the zoo, where a SCARS team was waiting for my text informing them of our arrival. And, well, you know what happened after that.”

I’m reeling after everything I’ve learned in such a short period of time.

The unknown Speaker group … My brother … My mother … Enzo … Arryn … SCARS …

I can’t believe all this has been happening right under my nose. “The deleted footage, that was you, wasn’t it?” I ask Arryn.

A half smile flits across her face. “You really are good at joining the dots.”

“If that were true, I would have figured this out a lot sooner. Not to mention the rest. I still have no idea about—”

“Lyss? Is that you?”

Arryn, Riley, and I all become like statues. The two of them look at me with big eyes, indicating I need to answer Keeda’s call.

“Just a second! I’m—I’m naked!”

Riley grimaces while Arryn claps a hand over her mouth to stop her laughter.

“Didn’t anyone tell you you’re supposed to wear your bathing suit in the springs? It’s an unspoken rule, but you know, public decency and all that.”

That’s Pandora’s voice. Keeda isn’t alone.