In my mind, I caught the flash of a memory. Of only a few days ago.
The morning Dev and Elliot had gone to meet Mother.
I had looked down into the valley and seen something strange—sparks of light and a shadow that vanished into thin air.
I’d passed it off as an illusion. A hallucination.
But I had just seen the same thing happen again.
Sable had chosen not to go with Dev and Elliot that morning. She had stayed behind at the compound.
So where had she gone?
“Can we call Kieran?” I asked breathlessly. “Do you have a phone?”
“I lost it back at the compound. What, Seph? What’s your problem?”
She sounded irritated.
Another memory flickered to life in my mind.
The night Jess was framed for the fire.
Jess had sworn the force came out of nowhere — something invisible that knocked her flat before she could react.
Invisible.
“Phantom,” I said out loud.
Sable glanced at me, something unreadable flashing across her face.
“Yeah?”
“That’s your call sign… right? You said that.”
“You know it is.”
Dots were connecting in my mind.
At the meet, Libertarians had come out of nowhere. Like they had been waiting for us.
Tonight, Sable had been part of a team that left me alone in the compound.
And Libertarians had come in again.
“How did they know I would be there alone?” I spoke aloud.
The Equinox isn’t what you’ve been told.
When she first said that I thought she was supporting their cause.
The injustice out there is real. Entire populations crushed. Lives erased. All of it sanctioned by the Council of Light.
“We must have a spy. Someone who knew we would be out tonight.”
I looked at her.
For the first time, I really saw her.
