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Peck swallowed and pressed on. “DOME saw something in your sister. Something that scared them. Something they didn't quite like. Maybe some part of Lily questioned Lamson, or Cylis . . . or could grow to someday. Maybe a part of her thought too deep, saw too much . . .”

“So they killed her,” Logan said. “For a crime she didn't yet commit.”

“Yes and no,” Peck said. He looked into Logan now with sadness and support, preparing him, bracing him.

“What? What is it?”

“Logan. Your sister is alive.”

6

His sister was alive. It was impossible. She couldn't be—could she? Logan was anxious now, filled with a hope he hadn't felt in years, but he couldn't quite allow himself to believe it.

“How can you know that?” he said, narrowing his eyes. “How could you possibly . . . ?”

Peck frowned. “Because I've spent the last five years figuring it out,” he said sadly. “Why do you think DOME is so afraid of me?”

Slowly, Logan allowed himself to accept the possibility that this was true. “We have to save her,” he said. And somehow, stating the words aloud gave them weight, and truth. Logan exploded. “We have to do something!”

“If only,” Peck said, unmoved. “If only we could.”

“What is that supposed to mean? Where is she? What have they done to her?”

Peck frowned. “We don't know.”

“
What
? How can you tell me all this and not know? What kind of cruel trick is that?”

“No trick, Logan. Just the truth. Our suspicions, our investigations . . . they can take us only so far. We're dealing with secrets so deep now, I'm not sure they belong to anyone anymore.”

“Well,
someone
must know. At least enough to put us on the right track!”

“You'll kill yourself chasing her, Logan. There's no way.”

“So what, then?” Logan yelled. “You expect me just to run, like all of you? To just leave her behind and not look back?”

“What I'm doing is giving you a choice. I'm saying that if you'd prefer not to suffer your sister's fate . . . that we will help you.”

“Forget about my suffering! I'm going to save Lily! And don't tell me you don't know how to do it!”

Peck sighed. “It is true there might be a way. But I can't in good conscience allow—”

“Tell me! Tell me, you miser!” Logan was on top of him now. Peck didn't deflect him so easily this time.

“The Markers,” Peck said, pinned but not afraid. “I don't believe they know much, but the Markers must at least know where flunkees are sent.”

Logan rose. “Then I'll get my answers from them.”

“It isn't that easy, Logan. Markers are anonymous. The Marking floor of the Center is impenetrable, and once a Marker leaves it, they can't be traced. The only way even to
talk
to one would be to Pledge.”

“Then that settles it.” Logan turned toward the door.

“Oh, don't be a fool, Logan! Whatever crime those skinflints saw in Lily, they
will
see it in you! I knew her too well—I've watched you too long—not to be sure of that.”

“I'm going. It's worth the risk.”

“Logan, if you walk into that Center tomorrow, all of this—
all of it
—will be wasted. I am giving you your life, Logan—at great cost to all of us. Do
not
throw it away on some pipe-dream reunion!”

“And what? Stay here with you? Live as a fugitive, scaring Pledges and letting parents think I'm kidnapping their kids? Wondering forever where my sister is and dreaming horrible dreams about her, just to wake up in this nightmare with all of you? How can we fight what's happening here if we don't even know what's going on?”

“We're not fighting, Logan. We're retreating. It's all we have the power to do.”

“Then I'm different from you!” Logan said.

“Logan, come to your senses! I won't let you walk into this trap.”

“I'm finding my sister,” Logan said. “Kill me if you won't allow it.”

The Dust looked at him, horrified, desperate.

But no one stopped him as Logan fled from the warehouse and into the night.

7

Logan ran on overgrown paths back to Spokie and wondered what to do next. He was reeling from all Peck had told him, but undistracted and resolute.

It wasn't until he made his way back into town that Logan realized he couldn't face tomorrow alone. He had to see her. The one person he could trust, unconditionally.

Erin.

When he rang the bell to her apartment, it was Mr. Arbitor who answered the door. His expression was blank, bored.

“What are you doing here, Logan?”

“I came to see Erin.”

“She's studying.”

“Please, sir. I Pledge tomorrow. I just need a friend to talk to.” Logan heard himself. He had intended to lie, but what came out was the truth.

“Come on in,” Mr. Arbitor said.

Erin was lying on the bed with Iggy when Logan knocked on her door. Her legs dangled off the edge, and she kicked them idly, staring up at the ceiling and petting her iguana. “How was your date?”

“Erin,” Logan said.

She sat up and was surprised when she saw him. “Hm,” she said. “Rough night, I take it?”

Logan wondered what his expression must have been. Tired? Afraid? Determined?

“How could you tell?”

Erin shrugged. “Your eyes.”

Logan frowned. “Listen, Erin. Tomorrow's my birthday, and—”

“Happy birthday,” she said. Her voice was quiet and thin.

“Thanks. Anyway, I'm scheduled to Pledge in the morning—”

“That's great.”

Logan hesitated. “Erin. Can we go somewhere to talk?”

She took him to the ice-cream parlor a few blocks away. Mr. Arbitor agreed on the condition that he could wait for them on the sidewalk. Through the glass, Logan could see him cup his face and peer into the store periodically, but Logan knew his words here would be private.

Erin bought them a fudge sundae to share, having made a point of smiling at Logan as she swiped her Mark under the cashier's Markscan.
See how great?
her smile seemed to say.
See how comfortable and easy life will be?

It wasn't until they sat in their booth that Logan broke the news.

“Hailey was the spy.”

Erin dropped her spoon. “
What?
”

“I know.”

“Do you have proof?”

Logan laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “I have proof.”

“Well, let's go!” She pointed to her dad. “Let's tell my dad right now!”

“Wait,” Logan said. “It's not that simple.”

“Why not? What happened?” Erin's face was bright and alive in a way Logan hadn't seen since Dane's battle of the bands.

“Erin,” he said. “She brought me to Peck.”

Erin sat, speechless for some time, her mouth hanging just slightly open. “Where?”

“A warehouse. Far outside of town. Some old, converted building. We'd been walking a long ways . . . I never suspected a thing. I should have.”

“How'd you escape?”

“I didn't.” Logan shrugged. “That's the thing.”

“I don't understand.”

“He wasn't out to get me, Erin. He's not out to get anyone. Peck was trying to warn me.”

Erin laughed a mean laugh. “That's ridiculous.”

“And yet, he let me go.”

“Well, warn you of what?”

Logan's eyes darted back and forth between hers now. He didn't quite know how to tell her this. “Of DOME,” he said, finally. “Of Pledging.”

“You don't think there's any truth to what he—”

“I don't know,” Logan said. “But it made sense to me.”

Erin narrowed her eyes. “What exactly did Peck say?”

“That my sister was no accident. That if I Pledged, I'd end up like her.”

Erin had trouble hiding her frustration under the veil of her sympathy.

“I am sorry about your sister, Logan. But . . . I mean, seriously, you can't possibly believe—”

Logan shook his head. “He had a pretty compelling argu—”

“Of
course
he had a compelling argument, Logan. He's a killer. He's a traitor, and he's a fugitive. I'm sure he's thought of a hundred different alibis a hundred times over! I'm sure it all checks out perfectly! Have you forgotten completely that this is the kid who's spent the last five years
spying
on you, leaving a trail of bodies and disappearances along the way? I mean, have you lost your
mind
?”

“He had me,” Logan said. “He let me go. If his plans had been sinister, then why'd he let me go?”

“Well,” Erin said harshly. “Maybe because he wasn't too stupid to realize that if he killed you right then and there, he'd have all of DOME—led by your best friend, Erin Arbitor—busting down his door in, like, oh, I don't know,
four seconds
?”

“Peck believed what he was saying,” Logan said. “Think of it what you will, but Peck and the Dust believe it. Hailey believes it . . . Dane believes it.”

Erin inched closer to Logan and put her hand on his. Suddenly she spoke with softness and a patience that had never been there before. “Logan, I know the Pledge is scary. But it's not scary because of some conspiracy behind it. It's scary because it's a milestone. As of tomorrow, you'll be an adult. You'll be independent— as independent as you want to be. Childhood will be . . . over. And I know that's a frightening thought. But you can't let yourself confuse that anxiety with these crazy delusions of—”

“Do you remember?” Logan asked. “Do you remember what it was like? The first thing about it, even? Your procedure?”

“Not really,” Erin said. “You go in, it's a clean room, they give you a spoonful of nanosleep, and while you doze off, they ask you a few questions about—you know, the . . . test, or whatever. Then you wake up and you're Marked. People get nervous for it, sure, but honestly, people get nervous over any big event.”

Logan stared for a moment. “You really can't explain it, can you? No one can. Everyone gets this treatment, and no one can tell me what it's actually like.”

“I just did. I just did explain it.”

“Not really,” Logan said. “You described a sterile room and a foggy haze. You have no idea what they actually did to you in there.”

“That's because it doesn't
matter
,” Erin said, suddenly impatient again. “It doesn't hurt; you never think about it again . . . the specifics aren't important.”

“How can they not be? Doesn't that seem weird to you?”

“What seems weird to me is the idea that DOME would waste their time or money with anything more than a numbing shot and a nanoink tattoo.”

“So there's a shot?”

“Well, yeah, in your wrist, so you don't feel the Marking, but you're already so dazed by that point—”

“And what other details are you leaving out?”

“Nothing! Seriously, Logan, why do I feel like you're interrogating me? Just get the stupid Mark and I'll see you when it's over!” She dug into the ice cream now, distractedly.

“There's no question I'm Pledging,” Logan said. “That's . . . mostly what I came in here to tell you. That I am going in for it, despite Peck's warnings.”

Erin relaxed a little. “Good.” She nodded. “That's good news, Logan.”

“But . . .”

“What? What now?”

Logan swallowed. “Lily's alive, Erin. My sister is alive.”

Erin stared at him.

“Flunkees don't die during the Marking,” Logan said. “They're swiped. They're sent off—”

And Erin banged the table with both hands. Their spoons rattled against the sundae's cup. “And here you go again! With this crazy conspiracy stuff! Do you hear yourself?”

Logan pressed on. “The only people who know where they're sent must be the Markers. And there's only one way to talk to a Marker.”