Brynn crosses her arms over her chest, chewing on her lip before reluctantly agreeing. I promised the night we fled the academy that we’d go back for other girls. I haven’t been able to fulfill that promise yet, but I won’t break it.
“That’s Leandra’s car?” she asks, and I nod. “And the blood on your clothes?” she adds, nudging my bloody shirt on the floor with the tip of her sneaker.
“Lennon Rose did eventually show up at Rosemarie’s house,” I say. “But, uh… she had a boy locked in the trunk of her car.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Marcella asks.
“She kidnapped Garrett Wooley,” I explain. “Rosemarie had a plan for him, but Leandra came outside and demanded to see him. And, well, when Lennon Rose opened the trunk, he attacked us.”
“That bastard!” Marcella says, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
“Leandra grabbed a tire iron and bashed his head in.” I make a sweeping motion over my clothes. “Hence, the blood on my shirt.”
Brynn straightens up and away from me while Marcella falls silent from where she stands next to the dresser. My eyes begin to brim with tears. Even though they’re not accusing me of a crime, I feel guilty by association. I feel ashamed.
“She killed him,” I whisper. “Leandra and Lennon Rose are burying his body right now in Rosemarie’s garden.”
After a moment, Brynn sniffles, and I look over to see that she’s crying too. We all knew that Garrett was horrible; he was a monster. But it didn’t mean we wanted him dead. It didn’t mean we wanted a girl to kill him.
“So Lennon Rose kidnapped Garrett?” Brynn asks. “She’s a murderer, like Leandra. Likethem.”
“Lennon Rose isn’t the same, is she?” Marcella adds, watching me. She takes a seat next to Brynn on the bed.
“No, she’s not the same,” I agree. “Rosemarie did something to her, turned her off somehow. Lennon Rose doesn’t think like us anymore. She doesn’tfeellike us.”
“She’s a girl with a razor heart,” Brynn murmurs.
We all go still, thinking about the book of poetry. Now that we know Rosemarie was the one to write those poems, they feel a bit different. Yes, the words woke us up, but clearly that wasn’t their only intention. Maybe we were supposed to change like Lennon Rose.
“So what’s this plan Rosemarie’s been cooking up?” Marcella asks. “Why did Lennon Rose bring Garrett to her house in the first place?”
“She wants to change society from the inside out,” I say. “She thinks she can overwrite humans the same way the academy used to overwrite our programming during impulse control therapy—minus the ice pick, I’m guessing. It’s some kind of thought-control. I told Leandra that I don’t want any part of it. In fact, the more I talk about it, the more outrageous it sounds.”
“So she’ll treat thoughts like programming?” Marcella asks.
“That’s the working theory,” I say. “She needs test subjects, and she’s somehow convinced Lennon Rose to help her. But…”
“But what?” Brynn asks, hopeful.
“But Leandra doesn’t seem as devoted to the idea. It could bewhy she agreed to let us handle the investors ourselves. She gave me their names. I don’t think she wants us involved in this plot.”
“No way it’s that easy,” Marcella says, shaking her head. “Leandra hates those investors as much as we do. She’s the person who sent us here to find one of them. And now that she has all their names, she justgavethem to you? Why in the world would she do that?”
“Because I told her there was a better way.”
“And you really believe that?” Marcella asks. “I’m not saying Iwantto kill the other investors,” she quickly points out. “But sometimes… Sometimes they don’t leave us a lot of options, Mena. Are we really prepared to handle that?”
“Yes,” I say. But I’m not entirely sure it’s true. At what point is it acceptable to kill when fighting back? When does self-defense turn into murder? I wonder if there is a clear point of no return. Because a second too late, and we’re the ones dead. We’re the ones being burned in the incinerator in the basement of the academy.
“Who are they?” Brynn asks, interrupting my thoughts. “These investors?”
“I haven’t had a chance to look through the names yet,” I tell her. “But our first stop is Colorado.”
“Colorado,” Brynn repeats. “Annalise is there. We’re going to get Annalise back!”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I say with an encouraging smile. “Look, we’re going to make a plan together, but we have to get out of this town. Leandra said the corporation has sent people to find us, and we already know that Anton is here.”
“I still don’t get it,” Brynn says. “I mean… I know Anton is like the other men at the academy, I do. But at this point, why doesn’t he just leave us alone? Why still pursue us?”
