“Depends.” Jax sounds skittish and when I look at him, his skin is gray. It could be the lighting, but I tend to think he’s actually getting sick.

“You okay?”

He gestures to my arm, and without thinking I look down at it. Erik’s fingers are in my flesh. There’s surprisingly little blood, but I suppose there’s not been much blood any of the times I’ve witnessed alteration. Still, it’s unsettling to see his fingers inside my arm, with my skin draped open like loose fabric.

“That’s appetizing,” I say.

“To answer your question,” Jax says, tapping his foot in a nervous beat on the floor, “when we enter, we won’t be flagged automatically because of the veil over our personal identifying sequence. But eventually they’ll realize that there are unidentified sequences in the patterns of the sectors.”

Dante reappears, chewing on some rations. I don’t know how he can eat. “That’s why we need to get in and out of the other sectors and then into the Cypress offices before they catch on,” Dante says.

“We could have minutes or hours,” Jax says with a shrug.

“I will be moving you within five minutes of the first rebound,” Loricel informs us.

“That won’t be enough time! What if we can’t find anyone?” I ask.

“We don’t have long before the destruction of the Eastern Sector,” she reminds me. “I can work quickly, but I won’t have a place to work for much longer.”

“Wait. If you’re staying here,” I say slowly, piecing together what she’s telling me, “then you won’t make it out.”

“Probably not,” she says, but she doesn’t seem upset.

“You’ll die.”

“I know that,” Loricel says. “Don’t be sad for me, Adelice. I’ve had more than enough time to come to grips with the inevitability of my death. Too long, actually.”

“But…” I know she’s right, but the thought of Loricel staying here to die while helping us escape makes me sick.

“I won’t be alone,” she says softly.

“Who?” I ask.

But then I spot Albert lingering in the corner behind her. She winks at me and I have to suppress a laugh. I’m still sad, but if the two wisest people I know want this to happen, then I have to believe they’re right.

“What happens when we get in there?” I ask Jax.

“Once we breach the Ministry in Cypress, I’ll access the system and begin Protocol Three.”

“But what about the pass code?” I ask.

“You get Cormac to fess up,” Falon says, folding her arms over her chest. She clearly doesn’t think I can do it, which makes me want to hand deliver it to her.

“Once the protocol has been initiated, the system will begin the self-destruct process as soon as Cormac says the pass code,” Jax says.

“I only have to get him to say it?” I say. “That shouldn’t be … too hard.”

“Yes, but he has to be the one to say it. It’s voice-encoded,” Dante says. “It won’t work unless it’s him saying it.”

“Okay,” I say slowly. It won’t be as simple as raiding his office if Cormac fails to comply. “What if he’s not there?”

Dante exhales heavily. “We have to assume he is. He gave the order to destroy this sector from his office.”

“I don’t like the idea of Adelice running around risking her life if we aren’t sure Cormac is there,” Erik says. He’s finished with my arm and he squeezes my hand before he starts on Jax.

“It’s a suicide mission any way we go about it,” Falon says. She sounds like this barely bothers her. “You two need to say goodbye now.”

I know I’ll probably never see Erik again. I know I’ll probably die today, but I don’t need Falon to point that out at this moment.

“Falon,” Dante says in a low voice. It’s meant to be a warning but she rolls her eyes.

“What good does it do to lie to them or give them false hope? Let them have a minute alone.”

“There’s no time for that,” he says.

“There’s never any time for that,” she says. She turns on her heel and walks out of the room and that’s when I realize what’s bothering her. She isn’t as doom-and-gloom as she pretends to be. She’s angry with Dante, because it’s too late for them. They’ve spent too long fighting instead of taking a moment to be together.

“You know,” I whisper to Dante, “she’s in love with you.”

“Falon?”

“You didn’t realize that?” Erik asks.

“I don’t assume everyone is in love with me,” Dante retorts, but his eyes dart toward the door.

“Go on, idiot,” I say, and Dante rushes out of the room.

We have minutes left to live a lifetime. We should make every second count.

TWENTY-FOUR

WE HAVE TO LEAVE TO MAKE THE rebound into the various sectors as quickly as possible, but Erik catches my arm and pulls me into a dark hallway, away from the people rushing to make the final arrangements.

“I have to go and get these people out of this sector before Cormac terminates it,” he says.

There are tears pooling in my eyes, but I blink them away.

“This is not goodbye, Ad.” He cradles my chin and forces me to look him in the eyes.