Now I met his gaze. Even though my insides twisted—I missed him more than I realized—I kept my voice even. “You’ll still alert the Controllers, who will be on guard. Right now they think Logan isn’t a threat.”
“Think?” Anne-Jade asked.
“He’s been busy.”
“I’m assuming so have you,” she said.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Why not?”
I glanced at her weapon. “You still haven’t put that stunner away. And I don’t know if you’re going to arrest me or not.”
The tension in the hallway pressed against my skin.
“They’ve been using Logan to force my cooperation,” she said. “If I had him somewhere safe?—”
Logan’s door swung open. He poked his head out. “Get in here before someone sees you.”
We hurried inside and he closed the door. Wires hung down from below the knob. Anne-Jade rushed to her brother, wrapping him in a hug. Not wanting to intrude on the siblings, I inspected the wiring by the door.
“Interested in electrical circuits now?” Riley asked. The tone in his voice bordered on sarcasm, but could be teasing.
Looking at him was too painful so I traced the loops of wires instead. “Yes. I thought I’d try electrocution next. Since a bomb, a fire, Vinco’s knife, and a brief encounter with Outer Space didn’t kill me.”
“There’s not enough juice in those. You’ll just get a nasty shock. The best place to get electrocuted would be in the power plant.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
He huffed. “Trella, what are you doing here?”
“Visiting Logan.”
Riley stepped in front of me. “You know that’s not what I meant. Why are you helping him? You didn’t care what the Committee was doing before. Why now?”
I stared at his chest. “I always cared.”
“You didn’t act like you did. You let?—”
“Everyone down. I know. It’s because I cared too much.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Now I met his gaze. “I didn’t want to screw it up. It was terrifying to have the entire population of Inside counting on me to make our world a perfect place. It was too much responsibility. Too much to expect me to suddenly know exactly how to combine a society that has been divided and brainwashed for so long.”
“What changed?” He whispered the question.
“They ordered me to stay away.”
He laughed.
I punched him in the stomach. “I’m serious.”
“I know, but you have to admit, it’s funny.”
“What’s funny?” Logan asked.
Riley gestured to him and Anne-Jade. “This. Us. Trying to find a way to bypass the Controllers…Again.”
