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TREY

I bang a fist against the wood table. “Where is she?”

The Keeper sitting across from me sighs. With the long sleeve of his navy-blue uniform, he rubs the fingerprints off the golden nameplate pinned to his upper chest. It reads ortiz . “Mr. Grant, if you don’t want to cooperate with me, I’m happy to ask the Enforcers to put you back behind bars until you do. Now answer my question.”

I burst out of my metal chair. It falls behind me with a clank! against the hard floor of this stuffy interrogation room. This bullshit little space is barely bigger than a bathroom stall. Plus, it’s musty, it’s windowless, and, most of all, it’s Arella-less.

“I’ve been cooperating with you for the last three days!” I shout at the useless example of a Superior in front of me. “Now I’m done cooperating, because every time I ask you where she is, you refuse to answer. If you don’t tell me now, I’ll tear this whole place apart until I find her!” And that’s a fucking promise.

Ortiz leans back in his chair and chuckles. “This prison is packed with Enforcers whose powers aren’t subdued by perrizo—while yours are. How do you plan to tear this place apart without your gifts?”

Each injection of perrizophine forced onto every inmate is supposed to last twelve hours. To ensure there’s never a chance an inmate’s perrizo has worn off before their next injection, doses are handed out like candy every eight hours.

I never realized how much I relied on my Empath power until now. I have to pay attention to people’s facial expressions and body language to guess how they’re feeling. Even then, it’s just a guess. When I get outta here, I’m never talking shit about my mind power ever again. And I say when because it’s a matter of when, not if.

Three days ago, I woke up in a large holding cell, surrounded by the remaining ZIRDA (Zordinary Innovations Research and Development Agency) agents and double that number of Royals, the chaotic assholes who think all Zordis are better than Ordinaries, just because we were born with powers—something outside of our control. The Enforcers stated that if we could prove we hadn’t broken any laws, they’d let us go.

One by one, they took us into an interrogation room. Depending on our answers to their questions, a Detector on the other side of the wall either confirmed that our words are true or that we’ve lied.

On day one, every Royal was taken out of the holding cell, interrogated, then relocated to separate cells to await their trials that will determine how long they’ll be incarcerated for. Depending on the severity of their crimes, they could be trapped in prison for the rest of their lives. I hope that’s the case for all of them.

As for the ZIRDA agents, they were also interrogated on day one, then released within twenty minutes of their interrogations starting. I’m not that great at math, but I’m good enough to know that three days is a hell of a lot longer than twenty minutes.

The first ZIRDA agent to be freed was Ruby. She was also the only person left I knew by name. Everyone else I knew by name had been killed: Dash the Speeder, who helped me get Arella out of Shadow Ridge by making sure the hidden tunnel was safe. Carlos the security guard, who helped fend off the Royals while I got Arella to safety. Pixie the Ear Blower, who was barely twenty years old and one of the bravest people I’ve ever known.

The youngest to die was Katie. She’s the one I owe the most. She preloaded some perrizo guns for me, which was crucial in our escape. Katie is also the one who pushed Arella out of the way when a Royal tried to stab her with a knife. Sadly, Katie ended up on the other end of that knife.

I barely had time to process Katie’s death before Aunt Jodi, in Victor’s body, stabbed me in the side. Then Victor, in Jodi’s body, tackled her to the ground. They tried to kill each other until the Enforcers showed up seconds later, but it was too late. Victor—who I thought for all my life was my uncle but was really my dad—had already stopped breathing.

Jodi had suffered some injuries too—a few blows to the head and a dagger to the chest. She didn’t make it long enough to see the prison’s Healer. I did, though, and now I don’t even have a scar to memorialize that battle.

I’d like to say I’ve had a moment to mourn the loss of my dad, but I’ve been too busy trying to figure out what the zovernment has done with my girl and wondering why they’re still keeping me here when they’ve already deemed me innocent.

They’re not holding me for being a Royal, nor are they holding me for committing crimes as a ZIRDA agent. Surprisingly, they aren’t holding me for exposure to an Ordinary either. After their many questions, all of which I answered with the truth, they determined that since I used my powers to protect Arella and only did it after she’d already found out about the existence of Zordinaries, they’re dropping the charges.

So if I’m not being convicted for anything, why am I still here? More importantly, why am I talking to a Keeper? Keepers are high-level zovernment officials who make the laws. Enforcers are the ones who enforce those laws. The people who were arrested with me were all interrogated by Enforcers, which makes sense because this is mid-level Enforcer work. So why is there a Keeper sitting in front of me?

Ortiz points at my knocked-over chair. “Pick that up, sit your ass down, and answer my question.”

Glaring at the man, I scoop up my chair and set it upright with a clank! Then I plant myself back onto the metal and cross my arms with a huff.

“What else do you know about her immunity?” Ortiz asks for the third time. Since he’s so insistent about getting my answer to this question, I’m gonna assume this is why they’re still keeping me around. Arella must be an anomaly to the zovernment too.

“I’ve already told you everything I know.”

Like it did the last two times I said that, a device on the wall glows red with the word lie . Whoever that Detector is who keeps pressing that lie button on the other side of that wall needs to stop.

This Keeper already knows I was sent on a mission to find out the source of Arella’s immunity. He also knows I never found it. I told him that she was able to project her immunity onto me multiple times. I even told him the way she did it was by imagining waves of water drenching me. I’ve told him everything I know—except one thing.

What I haven’t told him is that I was able to break through Arella’s immunity walls by making her orgasm. I don’t want the zovernment knowing that, for two reasons: First, I don’t want them to take advantage of that knowledge and scrub her memories. Second, they’ve already let me off the hook for fake-dating an Ordinary. I doubt they’ll be as relenting if they find out I had sex with her too.

Sadly, getting locked up for that is the least of my worries. My biggest concern is that they’ll find out Arella and I were able to conceive, even though it’s biologically impossible for us to do so. I still have no idea how that happened, and it doesn’t matter. What matters now is that the Keepers don’t find out about it. Who knows what they’ll do with that information. If it’s anything close to dissecting Arella to study her reproductive organs, fuck that. This is why I need to know where she is, because if they’ve already locked her up for research, then I need to bust her out.

“You can’t tell lies in here.” Ortiz folds his hands together over the table. “So how about you stop wasting?—”

Knock-knock.

The door unlocks, then opens to reveal a slender Asian woman in a fancy-ass burgundy suit. Her heels clack against the floor as she lets herself into the room. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Ortiz. You may dismiss yourself.”

Ortiz lets out a scoff and wrinkles his face together. “Excuse me? I’m in the middle of an interrogation. Who are you?”

In a sweet tone, the twenty-something woman says, “I’m Mia Wang, Executive Keeper.”

“Executive Keeper?” Ortiz chuckles under his breath. “Yeah, right. Those people never come out from behind their desks.”

“I assure you, Mr. Ortiz, when needed, we do come out from behind our desks . I am here to speak to Mr. Grant. Therefore, you are no longer needed.” Mia gestures a shooing hand out the door again.

Ortiz remains in his seat. “You can’t be serious. Where is your badge?”

Without hesitation, Mia pulls back the left collar of her silky shirt and suit jacket. Right over her heart is the official crest of the Keepers branded into her skin. It’s something I’ve only ever seen in books. Only the highest level Executive Keepers get that symbol branded onto their skin. They’re the Executive Keepers who are allowed more information than the other executives and the lower level Keepers—like this toe-jam sniffer who’s just dropped his jaw.

It doesn’t take more than a second for Ortiz to hop onto his feet and scurry out the door. With an apologetic smile, he closes and locks my precious exit behind him.

Mia makes her way to Ortiz’s newly vacated chair and sits. With a smile, she says, “How are you today, Mr. Grant?”

I’m not fooled by her gentle voice or the way she just asked that question like she actually cares about my answer. “Been better.”

“I hear you’ve been pretty concerned about the Ordinary the Enforcers found you with.”

Concerned is not the right word for it. Obsessively tormented over her well-being is more accurate. “Where is she?”

Like Ortiz, Mia doesn’t answer me. “I only have one question, Mr. Grant. Once you answer it, you’ll be free to go.”

My heart thrashes like it’s trying to escape from my chest. Whatever this lady wants to ask me can’t be good. “What do you mean by free to go ?”

“As in, you’re welcome to leave.” She says that too casually. Like, waaay too casually.

“After I proved my innocence, you Supes have kept me drugged up here for three days while interrogating me for hours on end. All of a sudden, an Executive Keeper with the official crest shows up and tells me I just have to answer one question, then I’ll be free to go ?”

“Yes, sir.”

I can’t think of what information this woman wants from me that would grant me my freedom. “What’s your question?”

“My question is: When Miss Rance was kidnapped, did you feel the glimmer?”

My eyes go wide because that is the farthest thing from what I expected her to ask me.

Since falling in love with Arella, I’ve felt the glimmer three times. The first time was when she was attacked by spiders. The second time was when she was in a bad car accident. The third time was after she realized she was kidnapped. Each time, nausea took over my body, my limbs went numb, and my chest felt tight like someone had a vise grip on it.

“Your honesty is important, Mr. Grant.” Mia stares me down with an impassive look.

Without my Empath power, I can’t even begin to figure out what this woman is up to. A Zordi can only feel the glimmer when their soul mate is in danger. We’re taught in Zordi school that our kind is meant to be with only our kind. So why did this Keeper even think to ask if I felt the glimmer with an Ordinary ?

Does the zovernment already know it’s possible for us to be soul mates with Ordinaries? Does that mean they also know it’s possible for our kinds to reproduce together? Based on what this Keeper is asking me, yes.

Why does it not surprise me to find out that the zovernment spreads false information? I guess after finding out that Aunt Jodi stole Victor’s body for over twenty years and that my uncle is actually my biological father, nothing can shock me now.

I must be taking too long to answer, because Mia says, “I’m just looking for a simple yes or no, Mr. Grant. Did you feel the glimmer when Miss Rance was kidnapped?”

Should I lie? If I do, that stupid device on the wall will glow red again. Why does knowing if Arella is my soul mate or not matter anyway? And why is it so important that they had to send an Executive Keeper to ask me about it? In America, the Executive Keepers are based in New York City. Did this lady come to California all the way from New York just to ask me one question?

I repeat her words in my head. When Miss Rance was kidnapped, did you feel the glimmer? Suddenly, it hits me: The keyword here is when.

“No,” I say, because technically, I didn’t. Arella was sedated in her sleep before she was taken, so she didn’t know she was in danger until after she woke up. The glimmer doesn’t activate if the person in danger doesn’t know they’re in danger.

Mia glances at the wall, where a light glows green with the word truth . She narrows her eyes at me as she thinks for a moment. She’s smarter than I thought, because within a few heartbeats, she clears her throat and asks, “Did you ever feel the glimmer after she was kidnapped? Maybe once she woke up from the sedatives the Royals injected her with?”

I go silent again. How do they know Arella was drugged? Did they interrogate her too?

My hesitation makes Mia stare at me. “Again, Mr. Grant, your honesty is important.”

I lean back into my chair and side-eye her. “Important for what?”

“That’s classified information.”

“Classified?” I scoff. “Like how you Keepers are keeping millions of Zordis away from their possible Ordi soul mates?”

A slight smile turns up the corners of Mia’s lips. “So you admit you felt the glimmer?”

I lean over the table and lower my voice. “How can you live with yourself? We have the right to be with our soul mates, even if they’re Ordis.”

Mia leans toward me as she, too, lowers her voice. “That’s a small price to pay to keep our kind safe, don’t you think? Can you imagine what would happen if we openly told the general public that it’s possible for Ordinaries to be our soul mates? Our kind would expose themselves left and right in retaliation. Then once the Ordinaries find out about us, they’ll want to get rid of us again.

“Our kind cannot survive another mass genocide. Plus, it’ll be harder for our Scrubbers to do another worldwide scrub. People have more technology now than they did back then. The Ordinaries will come after us with more than just poison. Knowing where Miss Rance is will be the least of your worries.”

I hate to admit it, but this Keeper is right. Ordinaries are not ready to know about the Zordi world again. They’re too fearful of anything they don’t understand. There would be more than just murders and genocides. The world would erupt into chaos.

Mia presses her back against her chair. “Final question, Mr. Grant, then I will see you out the door.”

“You said I only had to answer one question, then I was free to go. I’ve answered it. Now let me go.”

She ignores me. “Did you know she was pregnant with your child?”

I try to keep my face impassive because I don’t want to give her an answer. Unfortunately, my silence and lack of shock are all the answer she needs.

Mia’s chair squeals as she pushes it back and stands up. “Thank you for your time today, Mr. Grant. I’ll walk you outside.”

I stay where I am. “That’s it?”

“Yes, sir. That’s it.” Her heels clack-clack-clack as she heads toward the door.

What is going on? This Keeper just found out that I broke the second most enforced Zordi law—to never engage in sexual activities with an Ordinary—and now she’s just gonna let me go? Wait ... why the hell am I questioning this? If she’s freeing me, why am I still sitting here?

Fifteen minutes later, I’m out of my z-prison jumpsuit and wearing the clothes I was arrested in: some light-wash jeans and a gray polo with a slit in the side from where Aunt Jodi stabbed me. All the bloodstains have been washed out, which I’m not mad about. Some of that blood was Katie’s, and I don’t need to walk around with a display of sacrifice all over me.

When I step out of the bathroom in my laundered outfit, Mia says, “Follow me.”

At the prison’s main entrance, a gray-haired man in a light-blue Enforcer uniform waits for us with my leather jacket neatly folded in his palms. On top of my jacket is my wallet.

“Thank you,” I say as I shove my wallet into my back pocket, then slip into my jacket. With it on, I feel closer to normal, although I won’t feel completely normal until I’m holding Arella again. That’s why the moment the Enforcer disappears behind a door marked main office , I turn to Mia.

“Where is she?”

As if she can’t hear me, Mia opens one of the double doors, then holds it wide for me. Sunlight shines onto my shoes, the first glimpse of the outside I’ve had since being arrested. I’m about to take a step out when I stop. What if this is a trick? Having sex with an Ordinary is a huge offense. To the zovernment, for a ZIRDA mission is not a valid excuse for breaking the law. Why are they just letting me go?

“Are you hesitating because you’d rather stay behind bars?” Mia asks.

Fuck that. I step out into the bright September sun and squint. It only takes a second for my Zordi eyes to adjust, then I can see clearly. I’m no expert, but based on where the sun is, I’d say it’s three o’clockish.

Mia joins me outside, then clicks the door shut behind her. “What time was your last dose of perrizophine?”

“Around ten this morning.”

“Great. That dose should wear off around ten tonight. When it does, drink lots of Healing Water. It’ll help counteract some of the side effects from coming off a long period of being under perrizo. Since your time here was short, I expect your side effects to be minor compared to the people who leave z-prison after decades of being locked up. If the side effects become unbearable, try eating some bananas. For some reason, they help.”

Healing Water. Bananas. Got it. Now back to the important stuff. Since the way I asked my question before didn’t yield results, I reword it. “Do you know where Arella is?”

Mia ignores my question again. “Do you know where you are?”

“The z-prison in Corcoran.”

“Correct. On the outside of these brick walls is a van waiting to take you home. We don’t normally give inmates rides. Given your situation, I pulled some strings to arrange it for you.”

My situation? What does that mean? Is she talking about how I didn’t know I was going to be released today, or that I don’t have any family to come pick me up? Either way, I appreciate the ride.

Mia continues, “The driver has specific instructions to take you home and nowhere else, so don’t even try.”

“In other words, don’t ask him to take me to wherever you’re keeping Arella?”

Mia lets out a big sigh. “Mr. Grant, we aren’t keeping Miss Rance anywhere. She’s safe at home, where she has been since this morning.”

Since this morning? That means they’ve kept her for the last three days too. Is that why they’re finally letting me go? They finished their studies on her, and now they don’t need to keep me locked up anymore? That’s some bullshit.

I try not to sound angry. “Why did you guys keep her for that long?”

Mia blinks up at me with an expression I can’t read. For a second, I think she’s about to answer my question, until she turns back toward the doors and opens one. “If you know what’s good for you, Mr. Grant, you’ll stay away from her.”

My anger comes out this time. “Why did you guys keep her for that long?”

“Don’t forget about the bananas, okay? They really do help.” Without another word, she disappears behind the door, and it clicks shut.

I think about rushing back in and demanding that she tell me what they did with Arella for three whole days, but I doubt that will help anything. Plus, now that I know where my girl is, I feel a pull to head straight there.

Three and a half torturous hours later, the van driver drops me off outside my home. No matter what I said to him, he refused to take me to Arella’s apartment.

I race to open my garage. The loud door lifts to reveal only my car. Shit. I’d forgotten I ditched my motorcycle on the side of a road after I got Arella out of Shadow Ridge. My bike would have been faster, but my car will do.

Since running inside to find my keys will waste precious time, I plant myself behind the steering wheel and wave a hand at the ignition. Nothing happens, so I do it again. Then I facepalm myself. I’m such an idiot. If my empathy power isn’t working, then my telekinesis isn’t either.

I sprint through my house to find my keys. Once I do, I’m back in my car with the engine started.

* * *

The outside of Arella’s apartment looks the same as it always does. The car I bought for her is parked in her usual spot. I pull my Lexus right up next to it, then half run, half stumble toward her door.

Knock-knock-knock.

My hands shake against my leg as I wait for the door to open. I’m itching to hold her. I need my world to feel right again.

When the barrier keeping her from me finally opens, my heart fills with relief. There she is, and she looks unharmed. Her long chestnut hair cascades down her shoulders in soft waves. The hem of her white sundress falls just above her knees. Her eyes are warm and gentle—the way they always are. She looks like an angel. Partly because she’s so beautiful, partly because I can’t believe she’s finally standing in front of me.

“Arella.” Her name comes out breathily as I scoop her into my arms and crush her against my chest. “I’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”

She doesn’t return my hug or melt into my body the way she normally does. Instead, she goes stiff. Then she pushes herself out of my grasp and takes a step back. “Um, yeah? I’m okay.”

I keep examining her arms and legs, looking for any signs of cuts or bruises. “Did they hurt you?”

She cocks her head to the side and creases her eyebrows together. “Um, no?”

I slap a palm over my heart. “Oh, thank fuck. I’m so glad you’re?—”

A movement on Arella’s couch catches my attention. Someone I’ve never seen before stands up and stares at me with narrowed eyes and a crumpled forehead. White male in his early twenties, light brown hair, looks like he keeps up with his workouts, and he’s got a french fry sticking out of his mouth. Two fast food bags sit on Arella’s coffee table along with two fountain drinks.

I hook my thumb toward the guy. “Who the fuck is he?”

Arella blinks at me. “Better question: Who are you ?”