“Well, that’s the thing.” Ivy grimaced as she peeled back the final layer, revealing bright-pink skin and the dark lines of the stitches across Nate’s palm and fingers. “Between what Alden figured out and my calculations, I think I can replicate Remedy. And with your tinkering and Pixel’s, we can build a still.”
Nate’s heart sank as he eyed his oozing skin. He tried to flex his hand. His fingers wouldn’t move at all. “It won’t work. Not without a Diffuser.”
“I have credits saved up, some tech from Gathos City I can barter with. We’ll put the word out that we need a Diffuser—that we’ll pay handsomely for it.”
“But that’ll draw too much attention. You’d be in danger. Everyone would.”
“What’s the alternative, Nate?” Ivy asked gently.
He clenched his teeth. While he was willing to accept the alternative for himself, he wasn’t willing to give up on Pixel’s chance to survive.
“We’ll be careful. We’ll be smart. And you’ll help keep us safe. I’ll talk to the Courier I was paying to try to find you, so she can start working on finding a Diffuser instead.”
“You paid a Courier to find me?”
“One of the best, I’m told. By Val, anyway.”
Where do you live, Nathan?
Nate’s stomach rolled over. “The Courier’s name is Val?”
Ivy blinked up at him from her work, gray eyes wide. “Yes. Do you know her? Because if you do, she’s not very good at her job.”
“No, not really. I met her three times. She must have suspected the first two times, though.” He sighed out a breath. “Why didn’t she tell me where you were?”
“The way the Breakers have been scrambling for GEMs, she was probably weighing her options.” Ivy echoed Nate’s sigh. “That’s the trouble with Couriers. They’re good at what they do, but they’re not loyal.”
“Agatha was hurting her,” Nate said. “She didn’t trust her, I think. It seemed like Val was being punished. Like she was scared.”
“Well, she doesn’t have to be scared anymore. Agatha can’t hurt her.” Ivy spoke fiercely, but her tone had a haunted edge. “Not ever again.”
A current of hope buzzed through Nate’s tired limbs. It kindled a longing that threatened to burn him up. “Reed can get the parts we need. He can find anything.”
“Hopefully, most of the parts will still be in Agatha’s basement.”
Nate fought to keep his mind calm. Gamble or not, it was better than no chance at all. His heart rattled at the thought of having more days. “You really think it’ll work?”
“I do. And it won’t take much. The Remedy Alden was giving you was cut with his own weak formula. When we make it correctly, you won’t have to come back to me for it as often as you likely did before.”
Relief washed over Nate—not because Ivy thought she could keep him alive, but because she said he’d have to come back for it.
“Is that a mother thing?” he asked.
She dabbed fresh salve onto Nate’s skin and arched her brow. “What?”
“I didn’t tell you I wasn’t going to stay here.”
“Well. You were seven years old when I said goodbye to you. You’re not a child anymore. You have a life in the Withers.” She brushed a loose fall of hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. “I wish it was a better life, but I would never expect you to stay with me in a sick-den.”
“It’s not a bad life. They’re good people,” Nate said, bristling.
“I know. Asaferlife is what I meant, I suppose.” Ivy glanced up at him, her fingers gentle. “You’re very fortunate you found them. Even Alden. Well. . .he kept you alive.”
Nate gave her an indulgent nod. He didn’t need her approval to know that Reed and the girls were good. They were the best. And no one knew as well as he did that Alden had kept him away from the Breakers as long as he could.
Ivy’s fingers strayed to the cut at his forehead and the rough texture of the scar where Alden had mended him up. “What happened here?” she asked.
“The train wreck.”
