“The group Sura was part of,” Trev said, “was the Coats. They’re all ex–Branch employees. They still have some people on the inside, who provide us info as it comes in.”

“So you were already on your way here to check out what Riley might be interested in?”

Trev nodded.

“Is Riley on his way here now?”

“Not yet.”

Was Riley coming to Trademarr for me? Or for something connected to Elizabeth? He had to know she was still alive—the news of her rescue had been plastered all over the place.

“Will you know when Riley is coming?” I asked.

Trev nodded. “They’ll keep me up-to-date on his movements.”

“Good. Because I have a few things to take care of before then.” I stood and drained the rest of my beer, slamming it on the table when I was finished.

I moved for the door.

“Wait,” Trev said. “There’s more.”

I paused, and glanced over a shoulder. “What?”

He leaned back in his chair, stared me right in the face. “There’s an old lab here, too.”

Trev drove south of town, taking an old highway lined with decrepit, barely functioning factories. The Jaguar’s engine roared as Trev picked up speed.

“What did this thing cost you?” I asked.

“A lot of money.”

I grunted. “The Branch must have paid you well.”

He glanced at me for a second before turning away again. “I would give it all back if I could.”

“You mean, instead of turning on us?”

“Yes.”

“Still feeling the guilt of that decision, huh?”

“‘You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.’”

“Great. You’re doing that thing again.”

“I just mean…” He trailed off as he slowed to make a left turn. “I trusted the Branch too much, is what I mean. But I thought it was worth it. It wasn’t.”

The others had forgiven Trev, to an extent. We’d all been warped by the Branch. They were good at telling lies. Good at cracking open your head like a pumpkin and scooping out the guts. All the things that mattered. I think that’s why Sam, Cas, and Anna had cut Trev a little bit of slack.

I was still having a hard time following suit.

You screw me over once, that’s it. Didn’t mean I couldn’t use Trev, though. He owed me.

“Yeah, well,” I said, cracking a knuckle, “you’ll always be a fucking rat in my book.”

His hands tightened on the leather steering wheel. “I don’t have to help you, you know.”

“Fine. Then don’t.” He slammed on the brakes. I braced myself with a hand on the dash. “Jesus Christ.”

“Get out.”

I glanced at him. “Come on. Don’t be a dick.”

“Get the hell out of my car, Nick.” His freaky orange eyes flashed in the light.

A second ticked by. Then another. I tried getting a read on him, wondering how far he’d push.

“Get. Out. Of. The. Car.”

“You’re an asshole, you know it?”

He grabbed the back of my head and slammed my face into the dash. White dots exploded in my vision. A sharp pain radiated out from my forehead, across my skull, and down my neck.

While I tried shaking off the blow, Trev reached over, opened the passenger door, and shoved me out. I hit the pavement on my back, still half in the car.

Trev stomped on the gas, and my legs slipped out. He stopped to slam the door closed and took off again.

I crawled to my feet and watched the beads of the red taillights disappear around a bend in the road.

“Shit.”

Cornfields surrounded me on both sides. Behind me was the road we’d come in on, and more cornfields. In the time we’d been arguing, the factories had disappeared, replaced with absolutely nothing. Except corn.

How long had we been driving? Ten minutes? Fifteen?

My head swam, either from the hit, or the booze, I couldn’t tell which. The contents of my stomach sloshed around and then was coming up, eyes burning, bulging. I stumbled to the shoulder of the road, crashed to my knees, and hurled everything I had in me till my stomach muscles ached and my head pounded.

I lay back in the grass trying to catch my breath, and let the wooziness pass. Now I was well and truly screwed. Why did I have to go and open my big mouth? Trev was the best lead I had, not only on the lab, but on Riley, too.

Locating the lab would be a big step in finding out what had gone on here and why I’d been sent here in the first place.

Now Trev was going on his own, leaving me completely out of the loop.

I started walking in the direction we’d come from, hoping I’d make it home at least before midnight.

20

ELIZABETH

AGGIE AND I ATE DINNER WITHOUT NICK. Of course, he’d said he’d eat in town, but part of me had still hoped. Despite the fact that he’d been out of my life for six years, now that he was back, it felt like he’d never left.

I’d known him for only a few hours, six years ago, but it’d been enough to leave an imprint so large, I felt like he would forever be a part of me. Like he’d always been a part of me. He’d arrived in my life when I didn’t feel like it was worth much. And he’d showed me that it was.

Sometimes, when I was with Chloe and Evan and the others at Merv’s, my past seemed like a horror movie I’d watched one night when I was too young to tell the difference between fiction and reality. It seemed too terrible to be true. Chloe’s and Evan’s lives were so normal that when I was with them, I could pretend that mine was, too.