shredded flesh still clung to the bones, but for the most part, the Nox had picked it dry.
Josie couldn’t help but wonder how long he’d remained conscious during the attack. Judging by the horrific screams she’d heard above the clamor of his attackers, it was long enough.
His army. His allies. Only so far as he could control them. In the end, he was just another meal.
Nick turned Josie around and raised his flashlight beam to the wall. “We don’t need to see any more.”
FIFTY-FOUR
7:06 A.M.
JOSIE FOLLOWED NICK AS THEY RACED DOWN the hall. He kept his gun, retrieved from beside the body of Mr. Byrne, poised, expecting to see a security guard at any moment. People would be arriving for work, which would hopefully provide a distraction of some kind as they tried to get their friends out of the building.
Nick barreled into the stairwell, Josie close behind him.
“She said there was a lab on the third floor and that’s where they’d be.”
Nick glanced back at her. “Who said that?”
Oh yeah, she’d forgotten to mention that part. “I brought Jo back with me.”
Nick screeched to a halt at the third-floor landing. “You trusted Jo Byrne.”
“Yeah.”
“After everything she did to you?”
It sounded like such a bad idea when he said it like that. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Shit.” Nick checked the gun cartridge, then cocked the barrel. “How many times do I have to tell you, you can’t trust her?”
Just then, the door to the third floor flew open and Jo Byrne popped into the stairwell. “Can’t trust who?” she said with a huge smile.
Nick vaulted back, holding his gun out in front of him. “Where are they?” he barked. “Where are my friends?”
“It’s okay, Nicky.” A shadow slid into the stairwell and Josie recognized the raspy voice of Tony Fiorino. “It’s all good.”
Madison followed him. “Tony slipped out of the lab when Mr. Byrne brought Jo in.”
Tony laughed. “Easy when you’re a shadow.”
Zeke and Zeb were the next through the door. “He got the keys,” one of them said.
“From Dr. Cho,” said the other.
Jo smiled. “And here we are.”
Jackson slipped into the stairwell last. He carried a thin figure in his arms. She was wrapped in a blanket and her dark hair hung over her face.
Josie’s voice cracked. “Mom?”
“I’m okay,” her mom said weakly. “I’m going to be okay.”
Josie turned to Jo, grabbed her by the shoulders, and hugged her. “Thank you.”
3:50 P.M.
“Do you think your mom will agree to come back now?” Josie asked.
Jo laughed. “With Daddy gone? Yeah, she’ll be cool.”
Josie smiled.
“I really am sorry,” Jo said simply. “About everything.”
Josie caught sight of her mom sitting on the edge of Jo’s bed. “It worked out.”
“I suppose I could have told you,” Jo continued, speaking in a very calm, deliberate tone. “About our moms, and about what my father was.” She looked up at Josie. “He told me one day that he’d tried to kill my mom. And if I didn’t do exactly as he said, I’d be next. He was deranged.”
“I’m so sorry, Jo.”
Jo shrugged, and her carefree attitude immediately returned. “Oh well, he’s dead. Too bad, so sad.”
Jo may have been totally unfazed by her father’s gruesome death, but the thought of Mr. Byrne’s mangled body made Josie shiver. As happy as she was that he was gone, it was a death that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Jo glanced at Nick, then back to Josie. “So you’re really going back?”
Josie’s stomach clenched. The time was rapidly approaching when she’d have to make a decision: stay or go. She honestly wasn’t sure which it would be. “I think so.”
Jo stared at her for a moment, assessing; then her eyes drifted down to Dr. Byrne’s necklace that still hung around Josie’s neck.
“Oh,” Josie said. “Right. You probably want this back.” She reached up and placed her hand on the necklace, two entwined hearts. Josie and Nick. He hadn’t given it to her, but somehow it had come to symbolize all that they’d been through together, and the idea of taking it off was almost as painful as the idea of leaving Nick forever.
Jo continued to stare at the necklace. “You really thought Nick gave that to me.”
Josie nodded.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Josie nodded again. “Yeah.”
Jo’s face was blank and impassive. “But you were going to give him up. Back at Fort Meade, you said you’d save him for me.”
“Yeah.” She had said that. And she’d meant it, realizing at the time that the odds of her and Nick actually being together were very slim.
“You know, he’s the only guy that ever said ‘no’ to me. I think that’s what made me want him so badly.” Jo pointed to the necklace. “You keep it. As if he gave it to you.” Then she turned on her heel and walked to the window.
Josie’s mom sat on Jo’s bed staring at the mirror. “I can’t believe it’s all come down to that wretched mirror.”
Josie sat down next to her and squeezed her hand. “Think of it this way: if the initial explosion hadn’t established a connection between the two mirrors, I never would have known you were gone, never would have been able to come here and find you.”
Her mom sighed. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
“Personally,” Nick said with a smile, “I kinda love that mirror.”
Josie looked at Nick. Despite his smile, his eyes were sad. Her heart ached at what was coming, and when Nick twitched his head toward the hallway, Josie stood up and followed.
“Stay,” Nick said as soon as the bedroom door closed behind them. “Stay here with me.”
“I can’t. My mom needs me.”
“I need you.”
Josie swallowed. “Come with me, then.”
Nick reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand. “But my brother . . .”
“I know.” Josie dropped her eyes. She leaned forward and rested her head against his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart. Could she stay? Her mom was going home to her dad, and hopefully they’d be able to reconcile once Dad knew the whole story. With Tony completing the Nox injectable and Dr. Byrne there to oversee the eradication, this universe would be safer. She could send her mom home with the formula to help do the same in her world. And besides, maybe she could contribute something here, explore the physics of this universe with a different perspective. It was an enticing possibility.
But the only thing that really mattered to her was Nick.
“Okay.”
They said it in unison, both Josie and Nick. Josie looked up and Nick’s head was tilted to the side. “Did you say ‘okay’?”
