Ellie Sandberg would love to reinvent herself. When she earns a spot at an elite boarding school for young inventors, it seems like the perfect opportunity: A summer away from home, away from her overprotective parents, and away from the hopeless cr...
The first few warning raindrops give way to a steady downpour. The tree limbs groan above me in a sudden gust of wind. Those scattered branches won't do much to protect me from getting soaked to the skin.
Reese, fully exposed to the elements out there on the shelf of rock, doesn't seem to care. The wind billows her hair and water drips down her face, but she's oblivious to the reality surrounding her. Not with her full attention devoted to the augmented reality on the visor.
A tight-lipped smile curls her lips.
Something about that smile scares me more than the dark storm clouds overhead.
Forget the visor. I need to get out of here. Now.
I turn to go, but I pull up short. A new sound greets my ears. Footsteps, growing stronger by the second. Whoever M may be, I'll find out soon enough. Someone's running up the trail in our direction.
Maddox or Miranda? I'm not sure I care to encounter either of them on the narrow, rocky steps back down to campus. I bite my lip, hesitating.
The footsteps grow more urgent. I can hear them splashing through puddled water as they make their way closer. Reese must hear it too. She turns toward the trailhead and squares her shoulders.
A head comes into view as a figure climbs up the final rise, and my breath leaves my throat in a gasp.
Not Maddox, thank God.
Not Miranda either. I'm rooted to the spot as recognition dawns. I've never seen that face in the flesh before, but I know it from pictures—and Reese's voice confirms his identity if I had any doubt.
"Emerson."
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, sending up a silent word of thanks. Reese's brother. An adult. Here to take charge of the situation and put an end to his sister's deranged recklessness. He must have followed us up here.
He stops a few feet from where I stand, breathing hard from the climb. His hands go to his hips as he struggles for air, and his head swivels back and forth between Reese and me. "What are you two doing up here?"
"I—I—"
Reese cuts off my stammers, her voice rising to be heard over the rumble of nearby thunder. "I don't know, Emerson. I might ask you the same question."
She takes off her visor, and there's a menace in her eyes that I don't quite understand. Instinctively, I take a step away from her, retreating closer to the man in shredded jeans and a sopping wet t-shirt.
"We should go back down..." I whisper, but neither of them hear me.
"I got an InstaQuest..." Emerson pants, eyes flying all around him. "El... She's still up here somewhere! Did you get one, too?"
He has an oversized smartphone. He holds it up for us to see, cupping it with his hand to shield the screen from water. I squint to read the text through the intensifying sheets of rain.
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