Chapter 22 · The Mall Remembers Him

Eli's standing in the middle of the atrium like he owns the place.

I can feel him through the floor. Not the way I feel Ivy, or the regulars, or even the damn drones that just shredded half my west wing. This is different. Deeper. Like the mall's foundation is trying to remember something it buried a long time ago.

Ivy's frozen. Her blade's still out, but her hand's shaking.

"Roo," Eli says again, softer this time. "You got tall."

She doesn't move. Doesn't speak. Just stares at him like he's a ghost she's not sure she wants to be real.

I want to say something. Anything. But I don't know what the hell to say when the guy she's been hunting for six months is standing right in front of her wearing a Vex control collar and calling her by a name that makes her look like she's twelve again.

"Eli." Her voice cracks. "What did they do to you?"

He touches the collar around his neck. It's sleek, matte black, with a faint red pulse at the clasp. I've seen those before. Vex uses them on contract enforcers. They don't just track.