“Do you see anything?” Aiden mutters to me. I shake my head. We stand in a building across the street from the hotel, watching out the windows on the top floor. Aiden holds a rifle at the ready.

          “Are there drones around here a lot?” I ask, peering at the sky.

          “No,” Aiden replies. “But occasionally the police will do a sweep outside the city limits. We have to be ready for them when they do.” A walkie-talkie crackles on the windowsill. Silas’s voice comes through. He hasn’t seen any other drones from wherever he’s stationed so far, but it’s only been about a half-hour.

          A sigh crosses my lips. I step back from the window and sit on a stack of crates. I lean forward, bracing my forearms on my knees. Aiden leans against the window frame, his eyes scanning the sky. I’m quiet for a long time.

          “You’re really in charge here, huh,” I say, my voice soft. It isn’t a question. Aiden turns to look at me. His expression is stormy.

          “I have responsibilities here. A family,” Aiden says.

          Anger flares in me, a spike of heat. “Your family is in East City.”

          Aiden’s shoulders tense a little. “That’s not what I meant,” he says.

          “Isn’t it?” I snap.

          “No, it’s not,” Aiden growls back. “These are my people. Our people, Finn.”

          I rise to my feet. “What about Mom?” I demand. “You left us—”

          “Don’t act like I had a choice—”

          “You could have come back!” My voice rises, and I clamp my lips together.

          He glances down at his feet, gnawing on his lip. He always did that when we were kids, chewing his lips raw. “I’m sorry.”

          I shake my head. “Don’t be. Clearly you’ve found a different family,” I grumble. My hands clench into fists. I want to hit something.

          Aiden glowers at me. “I was trying to keep you safe!” he says. “If I contacted you and Null found out, they’d have come for you and Mom and then you’d both be dead!”

          I scoff. “Don’t act like we were better off!” I snap. I shove my brother. He drops the rifle, letting it clatter to the ground. His back hits the wall beside the window with a thump. “You were gone ten years, Aiden. We thought you were dead.” Aiden stares at me. “We buried an empty casket next to Dad.”

          Aiden doesn’t respond. He only drops his gaze to the floor, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. My throat feels raw and my vision blurs, hot tears pricking behind my eyes. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.

          “You didn’t even try,” I mutter, my voice breaking. “We mourned you every day for a decade and you just—moved on, like we weren’t your family.”

          Aiden opens his mouth, closes it. Opens it again. “Finn, I know nothing I say can make up for it,” he says. “But I thought of you and Mom every day. I wanted to contact you when I got out of Null, I did—but it was too risky. But it was fine. You had a normal life without me and it was fine.”

          My voice is quiet. “Until they got me too.”

          Aiden sighs heavily. “Yeah.” The only sound between us for a while is my ragged breaths. “But now you’ve got us. You’ve got me. You can stay here, with people just like you,” he says.

          I shake my head. “I don’t want to be this. I just—want to go home, Aiden,” I sigh. “I wish I’d been shot that day, that I’d never learned what I am.”

          “I know,” he says gently. The walkie crackles again on the windowsill, and he snatches it up. I furiously wipe my eyes, my face. My skin feels hot.

          “Nothing out here,” Silas’s deep voice says through the static. “The woods are clear too.” Aiden clears his throat, composing himself. He bends to retrieve the rifle, gripping the strap as he slings it over his shoulder.

          “Good. We’re coming back,” he says.