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through that without Mother finding me, it’ll be a miracle. Then I have to get through the Outlands and bribe the guards to get Asher’s grandmother and convince her to come with me. Then make it back through the Outlands, back through Sector Three with her. And if I manage to make it through all that, there’s no guarantee you’ll still be here and still be you.”
    â€œDon’t you think I know all that? I know the dangers. I know that Mother probably knows we’re in here and that the next corner I take could have Enforcers around it. I know that Mother probably won’t kill me when she finds me, and that she’ll either make me kill all these people or watch as she has someone else do it, then scramble my brains so I don’t even know who I am anymore. I know that,” I say in a pinched voice.
    â€œThen what are you doing? Why are you acting like this?”
    â€œBecause I have to. If I even think about what could happen, then I won’t be able to let you go.”
    He’s quiet for a moment, then he jumps forward and gently takes my head in his hands, pulling my lips to his. I return it, putting everything I have into the kiss, because there’s a whole lot that can go wrong and we’ll need a miracle to make it all work. This could very well be the last time I’ll ever get to do this.
    The thought causes the dam to break and tears finally run down my cheeks.
    I pull away immediately, but he keeps his hands on my face, his thumbs rubbing the tears away.
    â€œI can’t do this,” I whisper, my voice clogged with tears. “I can’t watch you leave.” But I kiss him again. Harder this time, pouring everything I have into it, before breaking away. “I love you,” I say. The closest I’ll let myself get to saying good-bye. Then I bolt out the door, past Father and a stunned Nadia, so I don’t have to see the person I love more than anything walk away from me, possibly never to return.

 
    C HAPTER S IX
    Stephen: The council is disappointed to learn of your failure to discover the whereabouts of your son and, most importantly, that of the girl from under the sea. As you well know, she is thought to be an invaluable asset to us. If you do not find her, alive, by month’s end, we will be forced to take action on our own. Might we suggest you start with the boy who found her.
    â€”LETTER FROM AN UNNAMED INDIVIDUAL IN R USHLAKE C ITY TO M AYOR S T. J AMES
    Gavin
    I can’t believe Evie wouldn’t say good-bye! I mean, I know how she feels. I saw the fear in her eyes and her tears and felt it in her trembling body. Hell, I’m terrified. Not of the Outlands, but of returning here to find her either dead, or worse, with no memory of me as anything other than a Surface Dweller who must die. But damn it! She could have at least said good-bye.
    Of course, the way her blue eyes bored into me and pleaded with me not to go before she ran away was almost my undoing. I think if she would have asked me to stay, I would have. Which I know is why she couldn’t. Still, I don’t know how many times I want to turn back around and demand a good-bye. I almost do it when Father leads me to a rock wall blocking our path. We climb carefully up a ladder they’ve carved into the wall next to it and through a tiny hole I’m not entirely sure how we fit through. We then let ourselves drop to the concrete floor. What looks like a Tube track is blocked off by an airlock like the one at Sector Three.
    â€œWhat is this?”
    â€œThe original way into the Caverns. There was going to be a train like there is from Two to Three, but that of course never happened. Shortly after work stopped, there was a minor tremor and it caused the cave-in we just crawled through.” He pushes on the airlock door and it slides up just enough to let us belly crawl through it.
    â€œAnd Mother has no idea that it’s here?”
    He pushes