Swipe

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