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“She’s not the last,” I point out. Cormac knows that better than anyone. The Guild altered my mother, removed her soul, and sent her to Earth to hunt me. As a Remnant, she bears only my mother’s face. But she is still alive, no matter what she’s done. I’d recently even met another family member, someone I didn’t know existed: Dante, my biological father, who ran from the Guild so they couldn’t force him to use his alteration skills. His brother, Benn, raised me as his own and died trying to protect me from the Guild. Cormac had taken a lot from me, but he hadn’t wiped away my whole family. And there were other people I loved now, even if things were a bit complicated between us.
But despite my brave face, I try not to think of Amie. She’s close to me at last. With my hands free I have all the weapons I need to reach her. It’s possible I could enter her chambers through a window or an adjacent room. There might even be options for escape that don’t involve walking past the armed guards. But rescuing Amie and returning to Earth won’t get me anywhere. There will be no peace between the worlds—no peace for myself or those I love—until I create it.
“Amie may as well be the last member of your family.”
I ignore Cormac’s comment, focusing on gathering as much information as I can before he clams up again. “What is Protocol One exactly?”
“Don’t tell me you spent all that time on Earth among Kincaid and his Tailors and you don’t know,” he says, licking his lips as though I’ve provided him with something delicious to savor.
“Humor me.”
“It simply means that no one, myself included, can see Amie until we reach our destination and certain safety clearance has been granted.”
“Why can’t you see her?” I ask.
“What do Tailors do, Adelice?” He leans toward me, egging me on.
“They alter objects, and implant and erase memories,” I say.
“And?”
The answer is so obvious that it hits me like a well-thrown brick. “They change appearances.”
“I don’t know how far you’ve come with your alteration abilities. I know you can unwind,” he says. Cormac witnessed me removing Kincaid’s time strand on Alcatraz, revealing my newfound abilities to him. Now I wish I had let them fight their own battle instead of getting involved.
“I can’t alter my appearance,” I tell him, realizing that Cormac was warning Hannox that I might try to take his appearance and trick them into releasing Amie. “If I could, wouldn’t I have done it before now? To avoid capture?”
“You had access to some of the most talented Tailors we’ve ever lost to the rebellion,” Cormac says with a shrug. “I assumed you were too vain up until now.”
“And now?”
“I think you were stupid. You could have taken anyone else’s appearance.”
What Cormac doesn’t understand is that no good would have come from altering myself to become someone else. Arras’s threat to Earth would still have existed, my sister would still be under Cormac’s control, and I would still be hiding. Right now, being myself is my best asset, because Cormac seems eager to work with me.
“Do you have her bound as well?” I ask, bringing the subject back around to Amie. I picture her locked in a cell deep in the belly of the ship.
“I’m not scared of Amie,” Cormac says. “She won’t even know she’s under safekeeping. I would guess she’s reading the Bulletin or playing with her digifile. There are perks, you know, to being well behaved.”
“I find being well behaved is overrated.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he says. “In any case, she is secure. You can’t reach her without risking her life. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” I mutter.
Cormac stretches toward me and swipes an access card across the blue light. It blinks red. Cormac removes the gages and tosses them next to my food tray. My dented flesh aches as I splay my fingers wide, cracking and popping the joints in my hands.
This is my chance.
I could run for it. This aeroship will be equipped with tethering gear and rappelling equipment. I could easily take out the guards, even Cormac, now that I have the use of my hands, and there’s a good possibility I could even make it to the surface. I could make it back to Erik.
But returning to Earth only puts everyone I love in more danger. It’s better to stay here and worm my way back into Cormac’s good graces.
“How adorable.” He traces a finger over my techprint. “The mark of Kairos. Souvenir?”
Despite Cormac’s near-constant attention, it’s the first time he’s noticed the mark.
“I’ve had it for a long time,” I say in a measured tone. I could brag more, talk about my rebel parents, but I know that could place Amie in more danger. Cormac is only trusting when he thinks he has total control. I can’t risk that now.
