“Right, I heard that part,” Winston says, “but where are we going?”
Ian shrugs. “Castle has the news,” he says. “That’s all I heard. He was waiting for Kenji and Nazeera to put their clothes back on before he told everyone the details.”
I tilt my head at Ian, threatening him with a single look. “Nothing is going on with me and Nazeera,” I say. “Drop it.”
“All right,” he says, picking at his pizza. “Makes sense. I mean she’s not even that pretty.”
My plate falls out of my hand. Pizza hits the floor. I feel a sudden, unwelcome need to punch Ian in the face. “Are you— Are you out of your mind? Not even— She’s, like, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in mylife, and you’re out here saying she’snot even that pretty? Have y—”
“See what I’m saying?” Ian cuts me off. He’s looking at Winston.
“Wow,” Winston says, staring solemnly at the pizza on the ground. “Yeah, Kenji is definitely full of shit.”
I drag a hand across my face. “I hate you guys.”
“Anyway,” Ian says, “I heard Castle’s news has something to do with Nouria.”
My head snaps back up.
Nouria.
I nearly forgot. This morning, just before the symposium, the twins told me they’d uncovered something—somethingto do with the poison in the bullets Juliette had been shot with—that led them back to Nouria.
But so much happened today that I never had the chance to follow up. Find out what happened.
“Did you hear about that?” Ian asks me, raising an eyebrow. “She sent a message, apparently. That’s what the girls are saying.”
“Yeah,” I say, and frown. “I heard.”
I honestly have no idea how this might shake out.
It’s been at least ten years since the last time Castle saw his daughter, Nouria. Darrence and Jabari, his two boys, were murdered by police officers when they refused to let the men into their house without a warrant. This was before The Reestablishment took over.
Castle wasn’t home that day, but Nouria was.
She watched it happen. Castle said he felt like he’d lost three children that day. Nouria never recovered. Instead, she grew detached. Listless. She stopped coming home at normal hours and then—one day—she disappeared. The Reestablishment was always picking kids up off the street and shipping them wherever they felt there was a need to fill. Nouria was collected against her will; picked up and packaged for another sector. Castle knew for certain that it happened, because The Reestablishment sent him a receipt for his child. A fucking receipt.
Everyone from Point knew Castle’s story. He always made an effort to be honest, to share the hardest, most painful memories from his life so that the rest of us didn’tfeel like we were suffering alone.
Castle thought he’d never see Nouria again.
So if she’s reaching out now—
Just then, Castle catches my eye. He glances at me, then at Nazeera. A hint of a smile touches his lips and then it’s gone, his spine straight as he addresses the room. He looks good, I realize. He looks bright, alive like I haven’t seen him in years. His locs are pulled back, tied neatly at the base of his neck. His faded blue blazer still fits him perfectly, even after all these years.
“I have news,” he says.
But I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming next.
Nouria lives in Sector 241, thousands of miles away, and cross-sector communication is nearly unheard of. Only rebel groups are brave enough to risk sending coded messages across the continent. Ian and Winston know this. I know this.
Everyone knows this.
Which means Castle is probably here to tell us that Nouria has gone rogue.
Ha.
Like father, like daughter.
