I say nothing aloud. No sound leaves my lips, no flash of light accompanies the thought. But I visualize that ribbon severed in half and disappearing into nothing. And as I do, the moment it fades into the air, I hear a sharp inhalation right next to my ear. I hear a whisper so soft that I wonder if I’m imagining it, too.

“Chip.”

Chapter Thirty

CHAPTER THIRTY

One word, and I’m frozen to the spot.

I don’t dare breathe, don’t dare hope. But when the arms wrapped around me give a gentle squeeze, it’s not the same as before—it’s not to contain me, it’s to comfort me.

Ward is back.

I know it like I know my own name.

He’s back. And he’s free.

My legs give out, but he’s there, taking my weight, supporting me. Like he always has, even when I didn’t realize, even when I didn’t know.

He holds me against his warm body, wrapping me in his embrace. To Kael and Jeremiah, we look no different to before, but everything has changed.

Everything has changed.

Ward is free.

And now I need to do the same for the others.

But before I can try to understand what I just did, before I can try to pull off another miracle and free them from their invisible bonds, Kael grabs his own vial and a syringe, moving to his dad’s side. Cami, Riley, and Arryn are still standing silently against the wall, still watching everything that’s happening, their faces white with dread.

They know what’s coming next, just as I do.

“You were the first subject that we tested the serum on, so now that we know it works, it’s only fair that we share it with your friends while you watch,” Kael says, waving the needle at Cami before looking back at me. “What do you say, Lyss? The Speaker who didn’t save my mum—think she should be first?”

He steps toward her, and my mind goes blank with panic at the look of sheer terror on her face.

“Chip,” Ward breathes into my ear, another whisper of sound only for me. A warning to do something, to stop the irreversible from happening to Cami—to his sister. To my closest friend.

“There’s something I still don’t understand,” I croak out, needing to delay Kael, needing to get my head together enough to replicate what I did with Ward. I have no training for this, no idea how I just Spoke without Speaking. No idea how to make it happen again.