3:59

FORTY-ONE

4:21 P.M.

“HEY,” NICK SAID SOFTLY. HIS HAND CARESSED her shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

Josie wasn’t sure how long she’d been crying, but apparently Nick had pulled the car off to the side of the road and killed the engine. She looked at him, his face sad and calm, and tried to control herself. After a few moments, her sobs, though still erratic, were less frequent, but she felt weak and helpless.

“If only I’d been there,” she said, wiping tears from her cheek. “I could have—”

“You could have what? Beaten the crap out of Jo?”

Josie smiled. “Maybe.” The thought was appealing.

“But it wouldn’t have done your mom any good. She’d still be in that hospital, and it’s not like you could force Dr. Byrne to go back and clear everything up.”

The boy had a point.

“You said it yourself: your best chance is to replicate the experiment that landed your mom here in the first place.”

Josie nodded. He was right. She knew he was right.

“And I’m going to help.” His eyes swept over to her face, down to her neck, and fixed on something there. The necklace. He shook his head, as if snapping himself out of a dream, and quickly sat up straight. He started the car and pulled back onto the highway. “Let’s see what Jo had to say, huh? Now I’m curious.”

4:40 P.M.

Josie,

I’m sorry about all this.

There’s more going on than you know. Even if I could tell you, I doubt you’d believe me. I’m sure you hate me right now, but believe me when I say I didn’t have a choice.

But maybe I can make it up to you.

I need to find something. I thought it was here, but I don’t know if you noticed all the strange items that were switching back and forth between our worlds for the last couple of weeks? I had been missing a pair of shoes that miraculously reappeared a few days after I’d torn the house apart looking for them. Things like that. Back and forth without any warning.

The thing I’m looking for? That’s what happened to it. I think.

You need to search the house when Teresa and Daddy are gone for a black kitchen canister filled with coffee. Yes, I realize that sounds totally bizarre, but I need that canister.

In twenty-four hours I’ll reopen the portal and then, if you have the canister, we can both go home. Deal?

—Jo

Nick lowered the note to the bed and shook his head. “Yep,” he said. “This totally sounds like Jo.”

“Does it?”

“The tone. The way she tries to make you feel that she’s sharing with you when really she’s playing everything close to the vest. Just like her mom.”

Josie was intrigued. “Yeah?”

“My brother said she was single-minded about her job. Like a sociopath, practically.”

“I noticed,” Josie said with a dry laugh.

“Which made her a good scientist, but a crappy colleague.”

“I can see that.” Dr. Byrne was utterly and completely obsessed with her work. “Do you think she did it? Do you think she’s the one who sabotaged the experiment and was going to sell your brother’s formula to the highest bidder?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Nick said. “I mean, she was cold-blooded enough, clearly hiding something. And you did find the chat transcript in her office. If she was suspicious that someone else was the traitor, wouldn’t she have gone to the authorities? She definitely would not have continued the experiment if she thought it was sabotaged, you know?”

Josie shuddered, thinking about the woman she’d been living with for the past six months. A woman who apparently had no compunction about letting people die in exchange for a hefty payday.

“Jo’s like that too,” Nick continued. “Single-minded. When she decides on something she wants, she doesn’t stop till she gets it.”

Josie smiled. “Like you?”

He steadily met her gaze. “And you.”

“Wish I’d known that four days ago.”

Nick leaned toward her. “Wish I’d known you four days ago.”

Josie wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but it made her feel all warm and fluttery inside. She picked up the letter and lay back on her bed, propping her head up with a pillow as she read through it again. The note was so calculated. Josie could see that now—the cool, collected machinations of the Jo that everyone here seemed to know and loathe.

Why hadn’t she seen it before? Hard to say. Josie had seen what she wanted to see: a perfect family and a boyfriend who adored her.

But now, Josie had the upper hand. It was what Jo omitted from her note that was the most interesting. No mention of Josie’s mom at Old St. Mary’s. No explanation as to why she’d tricked Josie into switching places. She didn’t want Josie to know that she’d reunited with her mom.

Because Jo and her mom had no intention of switching back.

“What are you thinking?” Nick asked softly, lying down next to her.

“They don’t want to come back,” she said. “Jo and her mom. I’ve seen it in my dreams. Dr. Byrne is terrified. She’s lost the vial of the injectable formula, which was her only bargaining chip. She knows she’ll be blamed for sabotaging the experiment and for your brother’s death. And I think she’s more scared of the Grid than anything.”

“She should be.” Nick inched his body toward her. “And what about Jo? Why doesn’t she want to come back?”

“Jo’s got her sights set on . . .” Josie stopped. She almost said, “. . . on my ex-boyfriend.” But she hadn’t told this Nick about his doppelgänger in her world, and her relationship with him. Nick gazed at her as he lay on his side next to her, his face so close to her own she could feel his breath against her cheek. She couldn’t tell him. Not now.

“Got her sights set on what?”

“Nothing.” Josie quickly changed the subject. “What I don’t understand is why.”

Nick tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

She propped herself up on one arm. “I mean, why risk opening the portal? Why risk the exchange? For an injectable they have no use for? It doesn’t make sense.”

Nick pushed himself up on one elbow so his face was even with hers once more. “You’re right. If there aren’t Nox in your world, the antidote is useless.”

“Right,” Josie said. “And there aren’t any . . .”

Her voice trailed off. She remembered something, a glimpse of a wing outside her kitchen window, something moving in the darkness, and a far-off scream that sounded like metal grating against a chalkboard. She’d passed it off as an eagle or an owl at the time, but now after what she’d seen of the Nox, the horrible realization dawned on her.

“Oh no,” Josie said, flopping back onto her pillow. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Hardly,” Nick said with a short laugh. “You’re like the smartest person I’ve ever met.”

Normally the compliment would have made Josie all goo-goo, but the mysterious deaths that had plagued her hometown suddenly all made sense. She’d been so stupid not to see it before.

“Dr. Byrne wants the vial,” she said, her mouth suddenly dry, “because there are Nox in my universe.”

“Wait,” Nick said. “I thought you said there weren’t any?”

“There weren’t,” she said. “Were not. As in past tense.” She gave Nick a rough sketch of the dead bodies that had been turning up in the woods outside of town. Victims of animal attacks, partially eaten, always killed at night.

“It’s the Nox,” Nick said. “No doubt about it. But how?”

Josie shook her head. “The same way the vial got here?”

“Hm.” Nick scooted closer to her on the bed. “Well, if it’s just one, you probably don’t need to worry much. Then it can’t breed. But if there’s more than one, it could be catastrophic.”

“The deaths have been getting more frequent,” Josie said, remembering what Jo said in the last dream. “It went from sixteen in six months to like six in a week.”

Nick lowered himself to the bed again, resting his head on her pillow. “Then that’s exactly why Dr. Byrne wants the formula. If the Nox are breeding, she’d be the only person who knows how to get rid of them.”

“And in my world I bet that would be worth a hell of a lot more than two hundred million.”

“Yeah,” Nick said softly.

Josie rolled over to face him. Nick was so close to her, lying there on her bed. He stared directly into her eyes and smiled, so sweet and adorable. She wanted to sink into his arms. Screw the antidote. Screw the Nox. She could stay here, with Nick, forever. No one would know. She leaned her body closer to his, and closed her eyes.

A knock on the door sent Josie and Nick scrambling to different sides of the bed. “Princess?” Mr. Byrne asked. “Are you in there?”

Nick stood by the window while Josie grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest so Mr. Byrne couldn’t see her blushing. “Yes, Daddy.”

The door swung open and the smiling, good-natured face of Mr. Byrne sauntered into the room. “Nicholas!” He walked right up to Nick and shook his hand. “It’s good to see you again.” Mr. Byrne glanced around the room, looking for something. “Were you two studying?”

“No, sir,” Nick said. “I just drove Jos . . .” He swallowed. “I just drove Jo back from Old St. Mary’s.”

“Ah, I see.” He smiled at Josie, sad and understanding. “Well, I’m glad my Josephine had a friend with her today. How was she?”

“Better,” Josie said enthusiastically. “It’s kind of amazing, actually.”

Mr. Byrne nodded. “Well, in that case, I’m sure I’ll have an easier time convincing Dr. Cho to let her come home.”

Josie’s face lit up. “Really?”

“I have a conference call with her doctors set up for tomorrow.” He winked at Nick. “At least my position is good for something, eh?”

“That’s fantastic news, Mr. Byrne.”

“Speaking of jobs,” Mr. Byrne said. “Nicholas, how was your tour of the Grid?”

Nick shuffled his feet. “Excellent. Very, um”—he cast a quick glance at Josie—“enlightening.”

Mr. Byrne patted Nick on the back. “Good to hear. Care to stay for dinner?”

“No, thank you. My mom’s expecting me.” Nick pulled his car keys from his pocket as if ready to go.

“I see. Well, give my love to your parents, and I hope”—he cast a knowing glance Josie’s way—“we get to see more of you.”

Josie could have died from embarrassment, made no less horrific by the fact that Mr. Byrne wasn’t actually her father.

“Yes, sir,” Nick said. “Thank you, sir.” He paused next to Josie as he passed by. “See you at school tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Good night, Josephine.”

She didn’t even mind her full name.

3:59 A.M.

“We should go back for it then,” Jo says. “If it’s that important.”

“I can’t go back.” Her mom sits on the sofa, her head cradled in her hands. “They’ll know I have it.”

“Had it.”

“Same thing.”

“No, we have to assume no one has found it, and leave it at that.”

“But what if—”

“Don’t say it.” Her mom holds up her hand for silence.

Jo pauses, mustering her courage. Her mom is not going to like this. “What if I told you,” she begins, “that someone’s taking care of it?”

Her mom’s head snaps up, her eyes enormous, wild. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have someone looking for it. Someone we can trust.”

Her mom launches to her feet and grabs Jo by the shoulders. “What have you done?”

Jo forces a laugh. “It’s fine. We can trust her.”

“We can’t trust anyone,” her mom whispers.