3:59

FORTY-SEVEN

11:49 P.M.

JOSIE AND NICK SPUN TOWARD THE GARAGE, momentarily forgetting the vomit-inducing sight before them. The ring was close by.

“Penelope’s phone,” Nick said.

Josie stared inside, eyes glued to the far wall of the garage in a futile attempt to avoid the corpses. But they were there, clasping each other on the cold, cement floor, leaning precariously against a car, and no matter how ferociously Josie willed her eyes not to glance down and to the left, they did. Just a flicker. But enough to refresh the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Josie tried to focus on the bright, insensitive ring of Penelope’s phone. “It’s in there,” she said.

Wow. That might have been the dumbest observation in the history of this universe, or any other.

The phone stopped. Just as suddenly as it had pierced the uncomfortable silence of the night, it ceased, and the lack of sound felt even more oppressive. Josie and Nick stood still. For what, Josie wasn’t sure, but for some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t move an inch. She even held her breath. Waiting.

As if on cue, the ring started again. This time, Nick didn’t hesitate. He took a deep breath, then marched right into the garage.

Josie followed, her desire to help Nick outweighing her terror of the macabre scene inside. He paused near the bodies and Josie crept up behind him, cowering behind his frame as they listened intently for the ringing phone. It sounded nearby, but not directly in front of them, and the ring wasn’t muffled by layers of clothing but sliced through the silence of the night with its clear, loud toll, cutting off abruptly.

Josie’s eyes scanned the ground. No sign of the phone. She crouched down on her knees and peeked under the car. Nick knelt next to her and together they peered into the ominous darkness beneath the Wangs’ station wagon.

The ringing started again, and immediately a dull blue light glowed from the inside of the wheel.

“There!” Josie cried.

Nick scampered around to the front of the car and reached behind the wheel for the phone. Josie was at his shoulder as he flipped it around and read the name of the incoming caller. Josie’s stomach knotted up.

“Mads!” he said, answering the phone.

No answer from the other line.

“Madison?” Nick said. “Can you hear me? Something’s happened. Where are you?”

Still no answer.

Nick glanced at Josie and his face tightened. “Who is this?” he demanded.

The line went dead.

The color drained from Nick’s face. He tossed Penelope’s phone to Josie while fishing his own from his pocket. He hit a speed-dial button, and they both waited while the phone rang.

“Come on,” Nick said under his breath. “Answer.”

“This is Madison,” said a characteristically flat voice. “Not here. Leave a message.”

Nick ended the call. Then dialed again.

“This is Madison. Not here. Leave a message.”

Again.

“This is Madison. Not here. Leave a—”

“Dammit!” Nick roared. He scrolled back to his call screen and dialed another number. This time, the phone didn’t even ring, just went straight to voice mail. “Jackson’s not here.” He dialed another number. “Is this Zeke or Zeb? Doesn’t matter. Leave a message.”

Nick stood there panting, staring vacantly into his phone. Josie didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry? I’m sure it’s okay? None of it was true. None of it was appropriate. Penelope was dead. Maybe Madison too.

“They’re dead,” Nick said. “All of them.”

Josie gripped his arm. “You don’t know that.”

“Don’t I? You said it yourself: the Nox were sent to attack us. Just like they were sent to attack Penelope.”

The nagging voice in the back of her head. Something had been off about the whole evening. “I don’t—”

“And Penelope and her dad? The lights are on, Josie. Were on when we got here. So how do you explain both of them dead from a Nox attack?” He threw up his hands. “Don’t you see? The Grid. They cut the power and used the Nox. This was intentional.”

Josie squeezed her eyes shut. “They must have happened at the same time.”

“Exactly,” Nick said. “If they targeted us and Penelope, it’s only logical everyone else was on a hit list too.”

“Why would the Grid do this?” Josie said. The idea that the shadowy, nebulous corporation that Nick and Madison blamed for everything was somehow using Nox as hit men against a group of high-school students seemed so fantastical, Josie couldn’t quite wrap her brain around it.

“I don’t know,” Nick said. He shook his head, defeated. “I really don’t. We were just looking for our families, for the people we cared about who’d gone missing. My brother . . .” He paused. “Well, we know how that turned out. But the rest, we just wanted answers.” He turned and gripped Josie’s arms. “And honestly? We hadn’t gotten anywhere before you showed up. So I have you to thank for helping me find Tony. And for getting me out of that warehouse.” His eyes trailed down her face to her neck, then down to her arms. He paused, and his brows drew together. Again, his eyes scanned her face, but this time he wasn’t looking at her so much as he was examining her. He looked around her head, to her ears and her neck. He lifted her hair off her back, then froze.

Suddenly, his hands gripped her again. Fiercer this time. The look of confusion vanished from his face, replaced by hardened features and a cold, dark stare.

“What’s wrong?” Josie asked. She could feel his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her arms.

“Your neck. Your face.”

“Yeah?”

“You weren’t attacked. In the warehouse. There are no wounds on you anywhere.”

It was true. She’d realized it after Tony led her down through the passage, but she’d put it out of her mind. The Nox hadn’t touched her. Moreover, when she’d been trying to protect Nick, she’d touched one of them, and its reaction had been surprise and fear. Like it didn’t realize she was there.

“How is that possible?” Nick growled.

“I don’t know,” she said, trying to stay calm. “But I’d think by this point, you’d actually trust me.”

Nick’s gaze faltered. “I—”

Brrrrrring!

Penelope’s phone. Josie still gripped it in her hand. She glanced down and saw the name of the incoming caller. Madison.

Nick snatched the phone from her hand and put it on speaker. “Who is this? What have you done with Madison and—”

“Listen carefully,” a woman said through the speakerphone. Her voice was familiar. “Are you ready?”

Nick glanced at Josie. She leaned in next to him and listened. “Yes.”

“Your friends are safe. For now. Whether or not they stay that way is up to you.”

Nick set his jaw. “What do you want?”

“You know what we want.”

“You killed Penelope,” Nick growled through gritted teeth.

“She wouldn’t tell us what we wanted to know.”

Josie realized how she knew the voice. “Dr. Cho,” she said out loud.

Dr. Cho was silent a moment. “I seem to have both of you on the line. How convenient.”

“You didn’t have to kill her,” Nick said.

“She didn’t give us a choice.”

Josie clenched her fists. First her mom, now Penelope. If she ever got her hands on Dr. Cho, she’d make a Nox attack look like a playground catfight.

“We’re wasting time,” Dr. Cho said. “You have the antidote. We are willing to exchange it for your friends.”

Nick covered the mic with his hand. “How did they know?” he whispered.

Josie cringed. “I told my mom. In her cell at Old St. Mary’s.”

“Damn.”

“Are you listening?” Dr. Cho said.

Nick scowled. “Yes.”

“Bring the vial to your warehouse. Tomorrow.”

“Bring my mom,” Josie blurted out. Nick looked at her. What are you doing? he mouthed silently.

But Josie realized this might be their only chance to get her mom out of the hospital. She had to risk it. “Bring my mom and all the others. Our friends and their families.”

Again, silence on the other end. Would Dr. Cho argue the point? Try to negotiate?

“Fine,” she said at last. “Tomorrow at nightfall. Do not be late.”