Page 153 of Barinov

Lex goes still under my hand.

“What is it?” I ask.

Laing looks at us and sighs. “Dead man’s switch.”

Ellie gasps from the corner booth.

“How do we stop him from doing that?” I mumble.

“It’s probably in here somewhere,” Knox says. He takes the lighter from Khoza and runs the paper back over the flame to darken the ink. “I’ll scan it in and get to work.”

I nod and force a tight smile.

“You said the first one was a letter,” Ellie says, her voice soft. “W-what did it say?”

Knox grabs the other page and runs it quickly over the flame.

“Basically,” he says. “Zeke says that this is a schematic of the collars and how to hack it, blah, blah, blah…” He runs his finger down it. “Talks about the dead man’s switch, no shocker there… And oh! How to deactivate it, that’s good.”

He continues to skim the page. “Ah!” he shouts. “Here’s something.”

Knox’s eyes find Lex.

“What?” Lex mutters, voice snapping on the t.

“He asks me to tell the guys. I’m assuming that’s the two of you—” He waves a hand between us. “That not everything you’ve seen on Luca’s camera is real.”

Knox shoots a quick glance up at Tex and nods.

“That there is and I quote, No way in hell I would ever hurt my little sister. Not now. Not ever. She’s everything I have left. My only reason to keep breathing in this hell Luca calls Eden. Everything I’ve done in this place has been to keep me and her alive. Or to find my way back to her. So when you see…” Knox stops himself, smiling as he reads.

“So when you see what?” I ask.

“When you see something that doesn’t make sense, pretty please trust me. It ain’t what it looks like.”

“Called it,” Tex says, grinning with dark eyes a little glassy.

“There’s more,” Knox adds. A small laugh escapes his mouth as he eyes Zeke’s words. “So when you get here, Lex, for the love of God don’t fucking shoot me.”

I chuckle. “Is that it?”

Knox shakes his head. “Briggs, I need you to go grab your brothers, some suits, and a few masks,” he continues reading the letter aloud. “The three of you have a party to attend.”

Knox flips the page over. “Nate, is there something else in the envelope?”

Nate opens it up and shakes it out. A small piece of plastic, no bigger than a hotel room key falls out.

“What is that?” Lex asks, leaning forward.

“Inside the envelope you’ll find a keycard,” Knox reads. “It’ll get you access to—what the hell?!”

“What?” Lex and I both say in unison, panic flooding our voices.

Knox swallows. “To my sister and Luca’s engagement masquerade.”

DING.

I flinch at the sound.