“Did he say anything?” Adam asks.
“No. He just stared at me from the doorway.”
Adam and Winston share a glance.
“What?” I say.
Kenji swallows the last of his carrot, then looks into the empty bag. “Yeah, um, you should know,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me. “Warner ismadmad. If he actually tried to kill you I wouldn’t even blame him. J cried for like twelve hours straight. Inconsolable. That man damn near lost his mind—Oh,” he says to Adam, “hey, do you have any more of those gummy bears?”
I drag my hands down my face, exhaling through my nose.
Adam tosses a small package to Kenji, a blur of color arcing across the room. Kenji catches it easily, turning the packet over in his hands before ripping it open.
The rustling plastic and synthetic fruit scents instantly transport me to another moment. Heightened feeling snakes through my body,thrills of fear and excitement. I realize then that I’ll never be able to look at gummy bears without remembering Rosabelle.
“Does anyone know if she’s awake yet?” I ask.
“Who? Gigi? She’s five, bro, she doesn’t really nap anymore—”
“Not Gigi,” I say, fighting a wave of irritation. “Rosabelle.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Winston nods. He’s still working on his bag of apple slices. “I mean, I don’t know aboutawake, exactly, but she’s been stable for a few hours. Consciousness comes and goes.”
“A few hours?” I stiffen. “A few hours and no one thought to tell me?”
Adam laughs. “I don’t think people are going to tell you much of anything anymore. Warner’s already removed a bunch of your security clearances. She’s officially no longer your concern.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Hey,” says Kenji, pointing a gummy bear at my face. “Language. You know Grandpa Winston is a delicate flower. Profanity wilts his petals.”
Winston looks up sharply. “Call me grandpa one more time, asshole, I dare you—”
“Can you guys be serious for a second? Please?” I straighten, stressed out. “How the hell is this fair? I actually went to Ark Island and came back alive with intel, and I’m beingpunishedfor it—”
“James. Look.” Kenji shakes more gummy bears into his palm,chooses two red ones, and pops them in his mouth. “I don’t think you understand,” he says, chewing. “This is, by far, one of the stupidest, most dangerous things you’ve ever done in your entire life. The fact that you went into the Ark without clearance is bad enough. But you go all the way to Fascist Town and what? You bring home a souvenir?”
“She wasn’t part of the original plan—”
“I’m not sure you had an original plan,” Winston mutters.
“Ouch,” says Adam, laughing.
My jaw tenses. “When she offered to help me get off the island I figured I’d take advantage of her help—and get rid of her as soon as she became inconvenient. I was being smart about it.”
Kenji shakes his head. “Nope. She became inconvenient the minute she slit your throat.”
“Look.” I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “I wasn’t sure whether she was, like, legitimately running from The Reestablishment. It’s not hard to believe that some people on the island are there against their will, right? They’re not allowed to leave without authorization. And there was enough evidence to indicate that she might’ve been in actual danger. I watched a soldier bash her in the head while they carted her sister off to an asylum—”
“Did you actually see her sister carted off to an asylum?” asks Adam. “Or did she just tell you that’s what happened?”
I blow out a breath, choosing not to answer this.
“The Reestablishment is tricky,” says Kenji, carefully choosing another gummy bear. “You don’t know what kind of nonsense they might’ve orchestrated in order to make you believe this girl might be innocent.And I really hate to break it to you, but based on everything you’ve told us about your time there, it sounds like they laid a trap for you, and you walked right into it. You brought this girl directly into the heart of things here, and we have no idea who she is.”
“I was trying to figure that out,” I say, pushing my hands through my hair. “She literally collapsed. I thought she might be dying.” I sigh. “I didn’t heal her. I didn’t help her any more than I absolutely had to. I just figured keeping her alive for interrogation might be useful. Don’t I get any credit for that? What else was I supposed to do?”
“Could’ve pushed her into the ocean,” Winston says calmly, biting into another apple slice.
