3:59

FORTY-TWO

12:35 P.M.

JOSIE WAS JUST SITTING DOWN AT HER SOLO lunch table when she got the text from Penelope.

Meet me in the lab. Stat.

She didn’t need to be told twice.

Penelope bounced excitedly on her stool as Josie rushed into the classroom.

“Well?” Josie asked.

“I was there all night,” Penelope started. She spoke in quick, disjointed phrases, the hallmark of caffeine-fueled sleep deprivation. “At the warehouse. Set up the laser and did some modifications. Nothing big.”

“You modified a free-electron laser?” She knew Penelope was a wiz, but this bordered on genius.

“Yeah, yeah,” Penelope said. “It’s just commercial grade. No biggie. I couldn’t figure out, you know, how the laser and the contents of the vial were going to work to create a portal. I thought maybe a rapid cycling of photons might disrupt the gravitational field, but realized that the laser would have to be like a bazillion times stronger.”

“Crap.”

“Wait,” Penelope said dramatically. “My cousin works at Goddard. For NASA.”

Josie snorted. “Figures.” Between Goddard and Fort Meade, suburban Maryland in either universe was packed with scientists.

“She has access to an X-FEL,” Penelope continued with a smile. “I don’t think we can take it to your house, but maybe I can figure out how to control the beam so we don’t get another boom.” She made the same explosion gesture with her hands.

“Let’s stay away from the booms, okay?” Josie’d had enough explosions to last a lifetime.

“Right.” Penelope laughed. “If I can figure out how to control the beam, maybe we can just move the mirror to the lab, and try to open another portal to send you home.”

“Awesome,” Josie said.

“And there’s something else,” Penelope said. She scratched her cheek.

“Yeah?”

“You know that injectable you found? The one that’s supposed to suck the Nox into a black hole?”

Josie nodded.

“Any idea how it works? I mean, it seems to me that the Nox would actually have to be inoculated with the formula first. In order for it to work.”

Again, Josie nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Which seems kind of difficult, considering we can’t actually catch them.”

Josie hadn’t really thought about it before, but Penelope was absolutely right. “So the formula is actually useless?”

Penelope shook her head. “Not necessarily. But I was thinking, since I’m already messing around with cycling the laser blasts, there might be a way to create the same effect with the micro black holes without actually having to inoculate the Nox.”

“Crop-dusting the Nox with the formula and then cycling the beams like scattershot. You could literally eradicate hundreds at a time.” Josie’s eyes grew wide. “Penelope, that would be unbelievable.”

Penelope shrugged. “We’ll see if I can make it work.”

“When can you go?”

“I’m bailing on fourth period and driving up to Greenbelt to check it out. Hopefully we can aim for tomorrow night.”

Josie placed her hand on Penelope’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she said. “Without you I’d be stuck here.”

Penelope shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“Well, in this universe or any other, I officially owe you a favor.”

Penelope turned bright red and started gathering up her things. “I’ve got to get out of here. You and Nick will meet me tonight? At the usual place?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

7:15 P.M.

Nick was right on time to pick her up. Just like she’d asked.

“Nicholas!” Mr. Byrne exclaimed as he opened the front door. He’d been two seconds ahead of Josie when the doorbell rang. “Good to see you again so soon.”

Nick took the hand Jo’s dad offered and shook it warmly. “Mr. Byrne.”

“You’re here to pick up Josephine?” There was a playful quality to his voice.

“Yes, sir. We have a school project we need to work on.”

“Somewhere well lit, I hope?”

“Of course, sir. We’ll be at a friend’s house, and my car is equipped with dual-mounted megawatt LEDs on the roof.”

Mr. Byrne stepped aside. “Very well, son. Very well. Take care of my princess for me.” He bent down and kissed the top of Josie’s head.

“Thanks, Daddy,” she said as she followed Nick out to his car.

The sun was barely hanging above the horizon as Nick backed his SUV out of the driveway. “Thanks, Daddy,” he mocked in a high falsetto. “You’ve really got this Jo routine down.”

Josie rolled her eyes. “I have to. Poor guy’s been through enough, don’t you think? Last thing he needs is to know his daughter is hiding out in a parallel universe with his estranged wife.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Josie shifted in the passenger seat to face him. “You guess?”

Nick shrugged. “His job is closely linked to the Grid, you know. I mean, in theory, he’s one of them.”

“Yeah, okay, Madison.”

“Hey!” Nick said, hitting the brakes a bit too fiercely as he approached a stop sign. Josie whipped forward as the seat belt tightened across her chest.

“Be careful!” Josie snapped.

“Madison’s heart’s in the right place, okay? She may be a bit abrasive—”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

Nick sat at the stop sign. “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean she’s wrong.”

Josie pursed her lips. For some irrational reason, she was ticked off by the way Nick defended Madison. “Your girlfriend’s been nothing but a bitch since I got here, so excuse me if I don’t jump on the ‘rah-rah, Madison’ bandwagon, okay?”

Nick gritted his teeth. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“I don’t know,” Josie said, attempting to sound as flippant and disaffected as possible. “You two seem pretty simpatico.”

Nick turned his eyes back to the road and continued the drive. “We dated. Briefly.”

“I knew it,” Josie said under her breath.

“Look,” Nick said sharply. “We went on a few dates last year, but Madison’s . . . intense. About everything. It didn’t work out.” He paused, then shook his head. “And she was never my girlfriend, okay?”

“Whatever.”

“What do you care anyway? It’s not like you’re sticking around. As soon as we find a way to get you home, you’re out of here. Right?”

That was the reality. Ever since she’d tried to get back through the mirror and found a concrete wall in her path, Josie had been singularly focused: find a way home. This wasn’t her world. This wasn’t her life. And yet for some reason the idea of leaving here—of leaving him—made Josie instantly sick to her stomach.

Nick stopped at a light and turned to her. “Right?” he repeated.

His face was drawn, taut like a boxer anticipating a blow to the face. Josie wanted to grab him, to hold on for dear life and never, ever let go.

She’d come here hoping for one day in a perfect life, one day to make amends. A happy family and loving boyfriend, a school full of friends. She’d known it would all be an illusion and a lie, but she hadn’t cared. For one day, everything would be perfect.

Then everything had gone wrong.

But as she sat in the car gazing into Nick’s eyes, she realized that something had happened to her. Nick Fiorino, the great love of her life. Except this wasn’t Nick. Not really. He was a completely different person. Smart, brave, considerate. He took care of his friends, was trying to help save the people they loved. Unselfishly, since he knew his brother was already dead. Even Josie, someone he’d just met. He’d gone out of his way to help her. He’d been the one person she could trust, and the idea of leaving this Nick made her physically ill.

She wanted to tell him. All about her Nick and Madison and how they’d betrayed her, about how she’d come to his world for a fantasy, and about how somewhere along the way he’d become more important to her than she could have predicted.

She wanted to tell him everything.

But she couldn’t.

“Right,” she said, dropping her eyes.

Nick slowly turned back to the road. “That’s what I thought.”

7:41 P.M.

The sun had completely dipped below the horizon by the time Nick pulled his SUV into the warehouse. It was dark and empty.

The only light was from the floods on the top of Nick’s car. He cut the engine, and Josie strained her ears, listening for the telltale flapping and shrieking of the Nox.

It felt strange to be in the near-darkness as Josie slipped out of the car. Nick had pulled a giant flashlight from the backseat of his car and walked off, presumably to fire up the generator, but as Josie stood there beside the car, she had the distinct feeling that she wasn’t alone. She could have sworn she heard a shuffling noise like someone darting around in the dark recesses of the abandoned space, and her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. She thought she saw something move. A shadow in the blackness, darker than the dark, if that was even possible.

“Hello?” she called into the shadows.

No answer. Josie shook her head. It had been so many days since she’d experienced actual darkness, her ocular membranes were no longer capable of adapting to the lack of light.

The generator whirred to life, flooding the warehouse in artificial glow, and Josie jumped.

“There’s no one here,” Nick said. He pulled the chain, rolling the gate back into place.

“Oh.” Josie peered into the back of the warehouse, now bathed in the orangey overhead lights. Nick was right. No one there.

After he secured the door, Nick wandered over to the fridge, mumbled something to himself, then closed the door without taking anything. Josie watched him, unsure what she should do next. He was clearly annoyed with her, angry almost. She felt like she was to blame, and yet how could she be? What did he want from her?

Nick plopped himself down on a sofa and picked up one of the books on interdimensional travel Penelope had left there. He flipped through the pages quickly, and kept his eyes focused on the book. The signal was loud and clear: I don’t want to talk.

Josie shrugged and sat down on the sofa opposite him. Suddenly, she was exhausted. The excitement at Penelope’s discovery had long since evaporated, and Josie was left feeling fatigued and sore. Every muscle in her body ached as if she’d run back-to-back marathons in stilettos. She leaned her head against the armrest and closed her eyes, wishing she had a sleep mask with her. The orange glow beyond her closed eyelids only enhanced the dull ache emanating from the back of her head. Never in her life had she craved the darkness so desperately. Josie’s breath began to slow. Sweet, calm black . . .

Josie didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she felt a hand over her mouth.

“Shh!” Nick hissed in her ear.

Josie’s eyes flew open and panic immediately welled up inside her. It was completely silent in the warehouse; the gentle, ever-present whir of the generator was gone. And though Josie could feel Nick’s breath against her cheek as he held his face close to hers, she couldn’t see him.

The warehouse was completely dark.

Josie lay there frozen, Nick’s hand still covering her mouth, his body pressed tightly next to hers on the sofa. She couldn’t see any movement in the warehouse, but as before she had the sensation of motion. A shuffling sound. A breath. Was she hearing things?

Nick made no move for the car. He was listening intently. He held his breath and didn’t move a muscle.

That’s when Josie heard it. In the distance.

The shrieks.

“Come on!” Nick yelled, all pretense at subterfuge evaporated. He grabbed her hand and hauled her off the sofa. She stumbled over the coffee table as Nick dragged her forward. The shrieks of the Nox intensified quickly, like they moved at light speed. Josie and Nick didn’t make it halfway to the car before the windows at the top of the warehouse exploded.

A coordinated attack, bursting in through several windows at the same moment, as if directed to do so. Screams filled the warehouse and in an instant Josie was surrounded by the sensation of flapping. The air beat around her as countless leathery wings swooped at them. Glass rained down from the roof, and though Josie could feel the broken shards crunching beneath her feet as Nick feebly dragged her toward the car, she could hear nothing but the deafening roar, the piercing screams of the Nox.

Josie felt Nick trip in the darkness, his hand ripped from hers.

She dropped to her knees, desperately searching for Nick as the wings continued to swarm around her. Her hand caught hold of his leg, motionless on the ground. As she blindly felt upward toward his face, she touched thick, leathery skin.

The Nox flinched when she touched it, but the monster didn’t move. It felt smaller than she’d imagined: about the size of a pit bull. It sat there, perched on Nick’s chest.

A predator claiming its prey.

She lashed out at the beast, punching at it fiercely with her fists.

The Nox shrieked, not the ferocious war cry that filled the rest of the warehouse, but a cry of fear and surprise. As if it didn’t know she was there.

Josie paused in confusion. Instead of attacking her, the Nox beat its wings desperately and flew away.

Josie had no time to contemplate her strange encounter with the Nox. She crawled on top of Nick, feeling for his face. Her fingers touched something wet and slick. Blood. She tried to feel for a heartbeat, for movement from his lungs, but the swarm whipped up to a frenzied pitch. The air whistled around her as if the Nox were circling above, preparing for a final attack. Just like in the woods that night. In the chaos, she’d completely lost track of where she was. Could she carry Nick to the car? Could she find it in the blackness? She heaved his shoulder, desperate to move him away from the attacking swarm of invisible beasts that seemed to fill every inch of space in the warehouse. She got to her feet, looping her arms under his, and lifted with every ounce of strength she had left. She staggered backward, dizzy and disoriented. She had to make it to the car. She had to. They were going to die if she didn’t. . . .

Suddenly, the weight of Nick’s body was gone. She felt him lifted upward by an unseen force. She grasped at his arm. The Nox had him. They were carrying him away.

“No!” she screamed. She clung to Nick’s arm, desperate to keep him away from the Nox.

A hand grabbed her wrist, prying it off Nick’s arm.

A human hand.

“Nick?” Josie yelled. He was alive. They were going to get out of there together.

“Quiet,” a voice said close to her ear. “Follow me.”

Josie stopped. It wasn’t Nick’s voice, but it was familiar. Harsh and raspy. She’d heard it before, whispering in her ear amid the chaos of a Nox attack.

The man in the woods.