“So,” Dunn began, clasping his hands in front of him. “It’s been quite a year, Ms. Cannon.”
“I’ll say,” Boyd said, shuffling some papers.
Dunn shot her a look, then returned his attention to Teddy. “This portion of the final exam is simple. Explain to us the most important skill you’ve mastered this year, and then demonstrate it.”
Teddy reflected on her time at Whitfield. Six months of school and she hadn’t mastered anything, exactly. She could make a paper clip zoom across the desk, but nothing heavier; she wondered if that was a notable display of telekinesis, given that she had once blown a door off its hinges. Damned if she was going to let Dunn and Boyd know about her experiments on the shooting range. And while she might breach Dunn or Boyd’s mind, if she infiltrated their consciousness, she couldn’t be certain she’d locate a memory that would confirm her tenuous hold on astral telepathy. She could start an auditory telepathic connection, but so could everyone else in her class. Teddy felt she had been called on her hand at poker with nothing to show. She cleared her throat. “Mastered?”
“Yes.” Dunn nodded. “Mastered.”
Teddy thought about how she’d made it through the year. She couldn’t have completed the midterm without Kate. She couldn’t have solved the Corey McDonald case without the Misfits—even, she reluctantly had to admit, Jeremy. She couldn’t have found the video without Molly. Molly, who was still in the hospital. And she couldn’t have done any of it without Clint, who had taught her so much, then abandoned her when she needed him most. Be vulnerable, he’d said.
“I still have a lot to learn,” Teddy said. “When I first came to Whitfield—” She stopped, thinking of the first obstacle course when she’d abandoned Molly on the wall. “I only looked out for myself. I didn’t think that anyone would look out for me.” She thought of the stupid arguments she’d had with Jillian and the not-so-stupid arguments she’d had with Molly. Teddy sighed. “I guess the skill I’ve learned the most is that I have to trust my team. I know that’s probably the wrong answer,” she said, glancing from Boyd to Dunn. “It’s probably supposed to be something psychic, right? But that’s the honest answer.” That’s the vulnerable answer, Teddy thought.
Boyd cleared her throat. “I think we’re done here, Cannon. Results will be posted tomorrow.”
* * *
Everyone wanted to celebrate. Teddy thought it was premature, as they didn’t yet know if any of them had passed the final exam. But the others walked down to the Cantina, and she went with them.
“Hey, Cannon,” Kate said as Teddy approached the wooden bar. “World’s not ending . . . yet. There’s still something to celebrate.” Kate clinked her margarita glass to Teddy’s.
“Very funny.”
“Seriously, you look like you just found out your puppy died.”
“I feel like it.” Teddy drained her drink.
Kate looked down at the wooden bar. “So, I—” She hesitated, which was unlike Kate. “I think I’m supposed to tell you something. It doesn’t make any sense to me. But I told you if I got anything about Jeremy, I would tell you.” She rattled the ice in her glass. “Claircognizance is strange. You wake up and you just know something in your bones. Like you’ve always known it, and you don’t know how or why. But I think I’m supposed to tell you that he cut the rope. On purpose. You’ll know what it means.”
He cut the . . . what? Teddy’s mind whirred as the pieces suddenly, horribly clicked into place. Jeremy was the one who’d brought the rapelling gear. Jeremy had been on the roof when he wasn’t supposed to be. The only reason to tamper with Molly’s gear would be to prevent her from sending out the video. Which would mean he’d been the one to call in the bomb threats to the hotel and FBI headquarters. To change their room reservation. But why? He’d appeared shocked and devastated in the alley after Molly’s fall, but had that been an act? It didn’t add up. He’d been the one to encourage the group toward breaking in to the FBI to secure the evidence that would free Yates.
Teddy’s thoughts lurched forward, making other connections. The obstacle course at midyear. He’d also been in the lab on the night when the samples went missing. Yates believed that whoever took the blood samples had ties to his organization. Jeremy, with his boat, had unfettered access off-island; he’d be able to transport the samples without anyone at Whitfield knowing. Teddy had seen it, too, when she’d looked into Molly’s mind. The doctor’s bag, the boat that night on Halloween. They’d been smuggling the samples off-campus.
And then he’d used his boat to sneak away after Molly had—
Molly. An icy chill rushed down Teddy’s spine. He’d tried to kill Molly, but he hadn’t finished the job.
Kate turned as Ava called to her, gesturing her to the dance floor. “I’m sorry about what happened this year. To your friends.”
Teddy was already out of her seat, halfway to the door. “Thanks,” she called over her shoulder. “I have to go.”
She had to get to Molly.
Jillian, Dara, and Pyro were standing by the water, laughing and playing ring toss. “We need to check on Molly,” Teddy said urgently. “Kate just told me that Jeremy was the one who sabotaged her line.”
Their laughter died. The gulf that had grown between them over the last few weeks collapsed; it was as if they were once again back in the alley, united by their grief. “Wait,” Pyro said. “Kate said what? How would she—”
Ignoring him, Teddy turned to Dara. “Do you remember anything strange about that afternoon? Did you see Jeremy with a knife?”
“A knife?” Dara shook her head. “No. I mean, he hooked us into our gear. Told me to go down the line on the right and Molly on the left—Oh my God. You think he really
