He just shrugs. “I’m willing to do a lot for this agency,” he replies. “But handing my brother over to a killer is not one of them.”

Her eyes narrow. “This isn’t a game. There are a lot of lives at stake here.”

Again, others are deciding my fate, not me.

“What do you want, Eden?” Daniel suddenly asks me.

I look at my brother. All I wanted to do was help someone out—I didn’t expect to find myself here, caught in a web between two enormous forces. I turn back to the director. “Give me some time,” I finally say.

She nods. “You have until morning.”

Daniel mutters a curse under his breath and turns away. He nods for me to follow him. The tension in the room feels thick enough to cut, and I wonder how many times he’s had confrontations like this with his director.

When my brother escorts me out of the room and we are alone in the hall, he reaches up to disable my system’s records. He turns his own off too. Then he leans close.

“Eden,” he says in a low voice. “Don’t do this.”

His voice is so worried that it even cuts through my resentment. “Your director’s going to be disappointed,” I mutter.

“That’s my job. Yours is to steer clear of Dominic Hann. Your interaction alone has given us more clues than we’ve ever had.” He’s silent for a moment. When he glances over his shoulder through the windows, out at the city, I glimpse the fear on his face. He turns back to me. “This isn’t like the war, Eden. This isn’t saving the Republic from the Colonies. We didn’t leave the Republic behind just for me to throw you back into a snake pit.”

I look at my brother. “You’ve been in this snake pit for months, and I had no idea. You never breathed a word about any of this to me. You put yourself in danger every single night while I stay home and wait, hoping you come back from whatever the hell you’re doing.”

He looks exhausted now. I think back to how I saw him perched on the edge of his balcony the other night, his gaze settled on the city before him. I have nightmares, but I wonder for the first time if maybe he does too, if they’re worse.

His voice hushes. “Let me deal with AIS,” he says again. “But promise me you’ll stay away from the Undercity. Let Hann forget about you. He’s still a busy man with plenty of other businesses to attend to. Maybe a racer isn’t going to be his top priority.” He takes a breath. “Maybe it really is like you said. He just wanted a quick win.”

I meet my brother’s steady gaze. “I promise.” I don’t add what I want to say. Even though you can’t do the same.

The director’s suggestion lingers in my mind. If I don’t help them out, my brother is going to continue his hunt for Hann. And if even half the reports I’ve heard about the man are true, then Daniel’s walking straight into the snake pit he’s trying to keep me away from.

DANIEL

 

When your kid brother has caught the attention of the most notorious criminal in Ross City, it’s hard to concentrate on anything—even a gala thrown in honor of the Republic’s Elector.

Several nights later, when I head in full black tuxedo to Ross City’s Hall of Philosophy for the gala, my mind is still swirling around what Eden’s memories revealed at the AIS headquarters.

Long blue banners stretch vertically down the sides of the skyscraper, all the way from the top floor to the lowest rung of the Sky Floors, where we and other guests are mingling on the outdoor walkways. Above and below us, the rest of the city’s floors shimmer in a sea of lights. Overhead and beyond the biodome, a snowstorm is raging, but when the flurries pass through the biodome, the warmer atmosphere turns them into rain. The air smells clean and cold.

Director Min Gheren is here, along with several other high-ranking members of AIS. Now she finds me standing on one of the ivy-covered walkways leading into the Hall of Philosophy, staring up at a virtual projection of the Republic’s flag on the side of the building. With her is Anden Stavropoulos, the Elector of the Republic.

“I believe you both already know each other,” the director says as they approach me. “But a greeting is in order, nevertheless. Elector, this is Daniel Altan Wing, one of our most promising young agents in the AIS. Mr. Wing, the Elector of the Republic.”

Anden doesn’t look too different from how I remember him—a tall, composed young man with grave green eyes and a regal tilt to his chin. He seems more relaxed now, though, as if he’s finally been able to step into his position with comfort.

I give him a respectful bow of my head. “Elector,” I say.

Anden smiles at me and repeats the gesture, even though I don’t think it’s protocol to do so. “In the Republic, he has a longer title than that,” he says to Min. “He’s still well known within all circles as the boy who saved a nation. I’m indebted to him.”

Me, the savior of a nation. It’s still a bizarre idea. Listening to the Elector talk about our shared history gives me a strange, light-headed feeling. I try to think back to that blur of time, when I was known as Day and when the Elector and I had a trust in each other so thin that June was really the only one who held us together. My memories of those few conversations I had with Anden are spotty, but even then, I remember the way I’d feel every time I saw him standing in some fancy hall with June standing at his side as his Princeps.

“You’re indebted to no one, sir,” I reply to him now. “The Republic’s thriving because of you.”

“Ms. Iparis has always spoken of your humility,” he says. “It’s as intact as ever.”

June. The mention of her name warms my cheeks. It hadn’t been that long ago when she and Anden were still in a relationship. I remember seeing it rotating on the news over here. “Well, if June’s saying it,” I reply, “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

Anden laughs quietly. “We’ll welcome your brother when he returns to the Republic for his internship.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say.

The Elector bows to us both again. “If you’ll excuse me,” he says, turning back in the direction of the hall. “I need to have a word with the President. It was good to see you, Mr. Wing,” he says to me. Then he leaves me with the director.

I let out a breath.

“Thought you were off duty today,” Min says.

I nod to her. “Would’ve been,” I reply. “Somehow I got an invite to this thing.”

“Yes, well … I’m assuming it has something to do with Ms. Iparis.”

I scowl when Min notices the blush on my cheeks and gives me a small, sidelong smile. Then she steps closer and lowers her voice.

“Has Hann reached out to your brother in any way?” she murmurs.

All of my worries come flooding back anew. “Not yet,” I reply. “And honestly, it’d be great if he never did.”

Min frowns. “I know you’re unhappy about your brother getting involved in this Hann investigation,” she says. “But he’s the closest link we’ve gotten in a year.”

“We’ll find another way,” I say. “We got a sighting of him, didn’t we? We’re hunting down more info about the race itself too. Hann’s going to show up again if there’s another race.”