Taken (Erin Bowman)

anytime you want. I think they did that with Frank—had him talk about Claysoot, saved his speech, and then showed it to me when I was Heisted. Septum and Craw saw the same thing. Frank’s so busy, he doesn’t have time to meet each boy after every single Heist. I’m amazed he had time to meet you.” He pauses for a second and then adds, “What’s he like?”
    “He’s really nice.”
    Blaine sticks his hands in his pockets. “I hope he figures things out soon. I think about Kale every day. I need to get her out of there.”
    The mention of Kale makes me think of everyone else still trapped behind the Wall. Of Carter and Sasha and Maude. “Do you think they’ll all climb now?” I ask, panicked. “If Emma and I were the first the Order picked up, that means there won’t be bodies. If there aren’t bodies, everyone might—”
    “They won’t,” Blaine says.
    “You don’t know that.”
    “The video . . . it mentioned that if the Order saves a climber, they will use someone from the prisons as a replacement. Leaving a criminal of similar build in the Outer Ring ensures that a body goes back to Claysoot.”
    I think of the second car waiting on the hill when Emma and I were found by Marco. It had driven off, but not in the direction we did. Its driver had more business to attend to. “I guess it makes sense,” I say. “If Emma and I are the first they’ve ever saved, and it’s hard for them to save climbers in general, it’s better for Claysoot to stay put until Frank solves things.”
    “Or until he gets his hands on Harvey.”
    “Exactly.”
    I smile and Blaine smiles, too, but for some reason it doesn’t feel right. If we are not encircled by a Wall and standing on clay streets, are we the same brothers? The thought is exhausting.
    “I’m really tired,” I say. “I think I need to sleep.”
    “Sure. I’ll find you later. We can catch up.” As I walk away, he adds, “I’m sorry, Gray. About the twin thing. Really.”
    I could accept it. But I don’t. “I know,” I say, and then I keep walking.
    As I wind back through the dining hall, I am engulfed by a wave of doubt. The likelihood of Frank solving things or capturing Harvey seems so remote, so improbable. I want to go home. I never thought I’d say that, but I just want to go back to Claysoot, where everything was simple. Where things with Blaine were uncomplicated, where I had a future with Emma. Not knowing made everything easier.
    I leave the way I came in, brushing through a group of people entering for breakfast. I keep my head down, buried in my thoughts, but someone grabs my arm.
    “Gray?”
    Emma is standing before me, her hair brushed out so thoroughly it is pin straight. It makes her look oddly formal. I am overcome by every emotion I have ever felt for her. Love, joy, pain, want, all mingled with relief.
    “I missed you,” she says. She’s wearing all white: a pair of pants that look uncomfortably tight and a top that flutters when she moves, almost as fluidly as water. Something is different about her. Her eyebrows have suddenly become too thin, and her skin too shiny. There’s something odd about her face, too, as though all of her features have been exaggerated with a fine-tipped quill.
    “What did they do to you?” I ask. Her lips are dark, painted with a color too even and bold. Even her eyes, which I thought I could never forget, seem to be surrounded by dark shadows.
    She groans. “I don’t even know. I feel like I have three layers of grime on my face, while every other inch of my body feels like it’s missing three layers of skin. At least they didn’t make me wear the heels . I kept falling in them anyway.” She points to a pair of flat, white shoes on her feet and then steps into my arms.
    “We have to get out of here, Gray,” she whispers into my ear. “This place isn’t right. They’re keeping something from us. I don’t trust them.” Her hair smells burned beneath my chin.
    “They didn’t tell you about Harvey?” She pulls her head from my shoulder and frowns. I guess that’s a no. “I met with Frank. He had some answers.” My stomach growls audibly and I realize I haven’t eaten in hours. Sleep can wait. “I’ll fill you in over breakfast.”
    “Hey, Romeo!” Marco comes strolling up the hallway and Emma and I break apart. “I need to borrow you.” I notice for the first time how truly ridiculous his massive beard looks in comparison to his shaved head. His eyes fall