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I reached over and unlocked the door to his cell, propping it open with reat white nothing that had h forhallways of his mind The colors were suddenly vivid as jewels--pristine e a the surface of a diaht

I worked faster than I ever thought I’d be able to, flipping through each ain, flipping the heavy lock The as short-lived Clancy’s hwith darkness, and always on the edge of bursting Now they were overly bright and crisp--still, too, like I was flipping through a stack of photographs, not trying to navigate the winding, endless paths that eachby a firrip Someone else was at the wheel

The cell, detention hall--they were ripped back froone, just like that And in its place was an old, familiar scene

Clancy’s back was tothe room solidify around us Dark wood, everywhere Shelves that blossomed with books and files A TV appeared in the corner and burst to life with a flash of silent color A desk appeared in front of where Clancy sat, his hands poised in the air until the laptop appeared beneath hisup from the surface of his desk in neat white stacks

He must have left theopen The white curtain he used to separate his bed from the rest of the office fluttered at h for the sound of the kids at the fire pit below to drift up to ht in the damp, earthy scent of the nearby trees

I shuddered We were at East River

Theme forith a lurch, but it was only at half speed I stepped up behind where Clancy orking, dividing his attention between his father’s face on the TV set and the laptop in front of hih the rational part of my mind knew that none of this was real--I wasn’t here, and Clancy wasn’t actually here--I still couldn’t bring myself to touch hi this? This wasn’t aonto a stage after a play had already begun I’d crossed whatever barrier had kept me an observer, not a participant

He took a deep breath, unbuttoning the collar of his shirt with one hand, typing in a web addressa password

The Clancy sitting in front ofhis head back so he was looking up, alet that?" he asked

I shot out of histhe connection before he could--he could--I don’t know, seal hts crackled back to life in the hallway, burning my eyes with the sudden intensity I knew , still locked in that initial panic, because all I could smell was that pine--the distant ca his e--once the ain, I wasn’t scared or even pissed off that he’d ed to wrest control away from me in the end I wascurious I’d never experienced hih a memory in that way--at East River, he’d shown ether, but this was sodifferent I had no idea that was even a possibility for us The throbbing ache behind my eyes had disappeared, and, for the first time, the dive into his head didn’t leaveon that initial high of overco his barrier, just for a second

"See you to the plastic wrapper back up into the air And as I walked out, clearly dishtness spreading throughI’d held back the , apparently It needed to be let out, to stretch its legs, to reood being in control felt

I think I ht have even enjoyed it

There was one laptop left in HQ, and despite the nuet a turn on it, their unspoken code of honor seeot ownership of it Or at least first dibs

So, at any hour of the day, you could find Nico working at the desk in the center of the otherwise eathered around hi at the screen, typing so in for him if he so much as leaned back

"Those kids make vultures look like fluffy yellow chicks," Cole said as we stood outside, watching thelass"If he were to fall over dead, would they just push the body out of the seat and use it as a footrest, do you think?"

I snorted "They’re bored If we don’t give the the electronic locks off the door to try turning them into cell phones"

"Yeah, well, Conner is the one that’s supposed to be wrangling them You and I sure as hell don’t have the patience for" A Green girl let out a squeal as Nico surrendered the laptop to her "this"