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“What just happened?” I yelled the second she came within earshot. “Did he lower me to the ground?”

“The energy was drawn toward you.” She extended a hand toward me. Under normal circumstances, riding something like this interesting would have made me the happiest person alive, but right now, I couldn’t even appreciate it. “I’m not entirely sure how, but… the Umbra must be fracturing his memory too.”

I pressed my lips. Climbing onto the back of the scooter, I placed my hands firmly on Eleanor’s shoulders.

She took off into the air again, the scorching mist blasted against my skin.

“What’s going to happen to him? Is his energy really as unstable as you said?”

“If you attach the chip, he’ll be fine.”

We began weaving rapidly through the thick fog. “How did you know I had it?”

“If Raymond gave it to anyone, it would be you.”

A small smile touched my lips at her words. As she steered, I closed my eyes.

“I don’t know what your or Eleanor’s intentions, but I hope Raymond forgives you.”

“You’d better save your prayers for his survival, my dear child.”

Her words made me wince in pain behind my closed lids.

Of course he was going to live. He had a mountain of explanations owing to me. He wasn’t allowed to go anywhere.

I would drag him back from hell myself if I had to.

CHAPTER 13

Mina

When we finally tracked down the white soldiers and found Raymond, Eleanor dropped me onto the roof of a nearby building.

“First, try to get Raymond to swallow the chip,” she instructed. “With your lips or your hands. But at this stage, he might spit it out or throw it up. If that happens… you’ll have to swallow the chip yourself.”

“Will the chip even work without directly contacting him?”

“Smearing his saliva or blood on yourself will be enough.”

I gave a firm nod. She patted my back as if sending me off to the battleground.

“You must prepare yourself for anything, Mina. It might already be too late for him.”

“Why did he do this to himself?”

“It was the only way to strike a deal with Krivan.” At the mention of his name, I glanced around, but the president was nowhere to be seen. He must have stayed behind at the cemetery. “Initially, he demanded the evacuation of the entire planet, but Krivan lacked the power to pull that off. In the end, they agreed on securing safe passage only for your inner circle.”

“Where on earth did you hear all this?”

Eleanor shrugged, and for the first time in hours, I caught a faint smile on her lips. “Thanks to the butterfly.”

“You…” I almost playfully pat her shoulder. “You were the one who added the recording feature to them, weren’t you?”

“Well, obviously, I didn’t sit around doing nothing for ten years.”

“I wish you had. You evil woman.”

She only laughed at my address. Taking a few cautious steps toward the edge of the roof, I looked out.