From the living room he answers, “I don’t know, Remy, we haven’t figured that out.”
My eyes shoot up from the floor and I drop my bag. He hears the loud crash and runs to the hall.
“Are you okay?” he asks with concern.
“What did you just call me?” He doesn’t seem to understand. “Did you just call me Remy?”
He steps away from me as though he is mad at himself. I watch him closely as he runs his hands through his hair.
“Why did you call me that?”
“I didn’t—”
“Don’t lie,” bursts out of me. I have been through enough and want some answers. “Once in the hospital and now . . . I’m not Remy. That man after me . . . he called me Remy, too. You have the wrong person.” He starts to walk away, but I hurry after him. “Please, Arek, tell me what is happening. I don’t understand. What if I’m the wrong person?”
“You’re not—”
Suddenly a loud voice comes from the hall.
“Willow!” Soon, Ian stands in the doorway dressed in his police uniform. When he sees Arek he charges him with an angry growl. It is over too quickly to understand what has happened, but after just a few moves, Ian is on his back with Arek’s foot at his neck. Ian tries to get free, but Arek is strong and keeps him pressed to the ground. My shock mounts since I have never seen someone move like that. It is as though Ian’s large body is absolutely no match.
“Let go of him!” I shout, running to Ian’s side.
“Are you done?” Arek asks angrily. Ian grumbles under his breath, with his face smashed against the hard floor, so Arek pushes harder. “Are you done?”
The cop in Ian wants to fight, but Arek gives him no option. “Yeah,” Ian says sheepishly.
“Yes?” Arek asks again, then cranks Ian’s wrist just a bit more.
“Ow! Yes.”
Slowly, Arek lets go as Ian scrambles to his feet. “Look, what’s going on?” Ian asks.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“We were called to your school,” Ian explains as his scanner makes noise.
Arek interrupts as he peers out the window, “We have to hurry.”
“Hurry where?” Ian interjects.
Then, suddenly, Arek sees something outside that he doesn’t like, and he rushes to my side. “We’re out of time.”
“Out of time for what?” Ian barks. Arek doesn’t answer. Instead, he grabs my bag and heads for the door, but Ian blocks us.
“You have one minute before someone worse than me comes through that door. And you’re the reason we’ve already been here too long,” Arek explains.
“If you think I’m going to let you leave . . .”
“You have thirty seconds.” Suddenly, the sound of multiple people running up the hallway stairs is deafening, and my heart begins to race, but Arek isn’t surprised. Instead he stares at Ian. “I have to get her out of here. You can come with us or you can let us go.”
“I’m coming with you.” Ian places his hand on his gun.
“Get it ready,” Arek suggests about Ian’s weapon. “We head out the back.” We hurry through the hall and into my bedroom.
“How are we getting out this way?” I ask as I quickly grab the bra hanging from my bed post before Arek notices it and I throw it in my bag.
Arek begins to pry open the window next to my bed. Eventually the rusted hinges break, allowing the frame to open. He turns to me with his arm out. “Come on, Willow.”
For just a moment he is quiet, allowing me to process the danger we seem to be in. There are two options: wait to see what is trampling my house, or run away with him. His green eyes are urgent but restrained.
Finally, when I lay my shaking fingers on his palm, they are encased by his. I clumsily crawl beside him and out onto the fire escape just as a large crash fills my apartment. Ian and Arek speed up.
Arek pulls the window closed as shadows run across the walls in my bedroom.
“Move!” Arek yells.
We run. In seconds my bedroom window shatters above us, raining shards of glass down to the street below. The silver cars have moved to the alleyway and are waiting. Men crawl through the shattered window, so we must hurry. My feet have never been the fastest or most nimble, but in an instant my legs become cement and the familiar headache and convulsions start. My hand flies to my head as my eyes roll back. Everything is such a blur that my hands stay at my side instead of trying to catch myself. As if in slow motion, the ground’s coming to meet me. But my body stops midair, unnaturally hovering as Arek grabs me and helps me down the last of the stairs.
They throw me in the back of a car and then jump in. As the yelling continues, so does the pain. The car doors slam shut, and the windows roll up. We are in silence. Sassi, still in the driver’s seat, reaches for a button on the dashboard that causes a white noise to drown out all ambient sound. Even still, the pain lingers. Arek touches my skin and an intense sensation rushes over me. “Willow.” The moment he speaks, the throbbing in my head is extinguished, like water to an inferno. I finally open my eyes to Arek leaning over me with concern. My body has melted to the floor. “Willow? The pain should go away soon.” Again, the sound of his voice is like soothing aloe on a severe burn.
“Okay, now do we get some answers?” Ian’s aggressive voice breaks through my serenity and brings me back to reality.
“The only answer I can give you is that we will keep Willow safe,” Kilon assures him from the front seat. “But we must let you go.”
“Let me go? Where? No, I’m not leaving Willow. You’ve got to be kidding me,” he says with an irritated chuckle.
“They’re right,” I say quietly. At this point Ian only keeps me from answers. I can see the way they look at him and they’ll never tell him anything. Everyone turns to me in surprise, while Sassi peers through the mirror. “You have to let me go with them,” I say to Ian.
