“Revenge can’t bring your mother back,” the senator’s men had said when they’d stopped him. “Neither can money, but it can give you opportunities you’d never have. Your grandfather’s farm is going into foreclosure. . . .”
He’d hated himself for it, but he’d taken their money.
It had been an awful lot of zeroes.
“Nok.” He forced himself to sound calm. “It’s going to be okay. Seriously. Stop crying.”
She looked up from her hands. A collection of black dots flashed on the milky white skin of her neck, standing out as bright as stars against the night sky. It triggered a memory. His granddad showing him the stars.
Constellations.
That’s what the black dots formed on Nok’s neck, he realized. A constellation. Cassiopeia, to be exact. He grabbed Rolf, who protested weakly, and pushed back his hair to see identical black dots.
Dazed, he turned to Leon, who held up his hands.
“Keep your hands to yourself, brother.”
“I think the marks on our necks are constellations. Yours”—he craned his neck to see Leon’s neck—“looks like the Big Dipper.” He felt his own neck. “Mine is Orion. And that’s what Cora has too, if I’m remembering right.”
Nok abruptly stopped crying, feeling her neck.
“That makes no sense,” Rolf said. “Constellations aren’t fixed in the sky into certain shapes. If you looked at the same stars from any other planet, they would appear different. And we aren’t on Earth.”
“Well, I have no idea why they marked us with stars, and I have no idea why they put Leon in a suit and Rolf in a military jacket, and I have no idea where Cora is right now. I have no damn idea why any of this is happening.”
Rolf cleared his throat. “I might.”
Lucky spun on him. Rolf’s cheeks burned as he continued. “It isn’t so crazy, you know—that they could be telling the truth. Humans are destroying the planet. Maybe it will take another few thousand years, or maybe it will happen tomorrow. But maybe they did take us to preserve our species.”
“You believe them?” Lucky said.
Rolf pushed at his nose like he was used to wearing glassing. “I’m saying that we should consider all options. As far as the marks on our necks, I don’t know why they used constellations, but I can guess why we’re marked. Rule Three. Procreation. The symbols match us in pairs. Nok and me. Lucky and Cora. Leon and . . .” He blinked. “Well, the girl who died, I suppose.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Lucky’s stomach twisted. The Kindred had matched him with the girl he’d sent to juvie. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Was it some kind of retribution for what he’d done? A sick experiment?
He ran a shaky hand over his face. He’d been so close to a fresh start. Two months until graduation, until he was shipped off for some boot-camp crap and then on a plane to some far-away country where people would likely shoot at him, but he didn’t care. He’d been prepared for insurgents. He hadn’t been prepared for this.
Maybe he should just stay away from Cora. He’d already hurt her enough. But the thought of that black-eyed monster laying a hand on her made him livid. Maybe it was time to tell her the truth.
If she ever came back.
13
Cora
CORA RESTED HER FINGERS on the glass viewing panel. Lucky and Leon were hurling accusations at each other while Rolf clutched Nok, who was sobbing.
I’m here, Cora wanted to say. I’m right here.
“You are not supposed to be here,” the Caretaker said. “I must return you.”
He seized her shoulders. Electricity tore through her. She tried to twist away, but he lifted her so high her feet dangled above the ground.
“Put me down!”
Incredibly, he did. Her feet connected with the floor. She winced as her hurt elbow popped. He took notice and turned her arm palm up, then gently inspected the bruised bone of her elbow. His fingers tightened over the bones, and with a snap they realigned.
She stumbled back to the safety of the wall. “How did you do that? And how did we transport here?”
He touched the knife hilt. “You thought you could harm me with this, but it is not a weapon.” He pulled it out, a thin strip of metal that ended in a needle as long as her forearm. It dripped with something that looked like blood, but darker than a human’s. “It allows me, and anything I am touching, to dematerialize. Now take my hand.”
She shook her head.
“I thought it was a dream.” Memories of his beautiful face stumbled into her head. “But it wasn’t. It was real. I remember your face because you were the one who took me, didn’t you?”
“I must return you to your habitat.”
He reached for her. She jerked back, skirting the room. Her eyes searched for any possible exits but found nothing. The light was bolder on the far wall, beneath what looked like a pulsing blue cube; starry light poured through wall seams that were shaped like a rectangle and tall enough for a person to pass.
Was that a door?
Don’t fight back. Don’t try to escape.
But this wasn’t a man she was going to be able to reason with. This wasn’t a guard at Bay Pines who could be bribed or flirted with. Wherever they were, the police weren’t going to find them. The only thing left was escape.
“You cannot escape,” he answered.
She whirled. Had he read her thoughts—or just seen the intention on her face? Either way, she forced her chin high.