Kira waits until the door to the stage is closed behind me.

Then she whirls around. “You,” she says emphatically. Up close, it’s obvious the tears are still fresh on her cheeks.

“Yeah?” I legit do not understand what she wants, but I’m prepared for anything. And hoping like crazy I don’t have to spin her mindmap to get out of this. Not in front of Tessa.

“Everyone knows you caught Julian’s killer.” She says it all in one breath like she has to eject the words out of her chest. “Everyone saw you stop your sister—your own sister. You stopped her, then you healed the people she hurt. It should be you, Zeph.”

“What are you even talking about?” I look to Tessa for help, but she just shakes her head. She’s lurking behind Kira, hands clenched at her side, soft brown eyes on fire for this discussion. But I don’t get it. We’re in a narrow, backstage, humid prep area with bare wooden struts along the walls and a feeling of too-much-closeness pressing in on me.

Kira stalks up to me. “You should run, Zeph. You’re a hero, and the people need a hero right now.”

“What?” I step back. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not in the least.” Her blue eyes are still damp, but they’re clear. And completely serious. “You’re what? Eighteen? Julian was only nineteen when he was elected. They changed the laws for him. I won’t be nineteen until next month. If I can run, you can run.”

“No.” I shake my head as I reflexively back up. I frown at Tessa, but she’s got this ridiculously hopeful look on her face. “No,” I repeat to her. “I can’t even… there are a million reasons for no to that.” I gesture to Tessa. “Why don’t you run? This is totally your thing!”

She doesn’t even blink. “It has to be a jacker.”

“Well, it can’t be me,” I shoot back, but when I glance at Kira to see if she’s regained any sanity about this, she’s not even looking at me anymore. She’s just staring at the floor, chest heaving like she’s struggling for air, and fresh tears brim in her eyes. Then it hits me like a punch to the chest. She’s in mourning. This is a girl who just lost the guy she loved—a real hero, not the kind I am—and everyone expects her to take up the mantle after him. That’s too much to ask of anyone… even Kira Moore, a hero of the revolution.

I soften my voice and try to act like a decent human being. Especially given I had a part in Julian’s death, which thankfully, no one in this cramped back room seems to know. “Kira, I’m sorry. This has to be terrible for you, and if I could do something about this, I would.” Which is probably a total lie, but it’s a safe one. “But I’ve got a sister who’s supposed to be dead. I can’t do something like run for Congress. That’s just… not something I can do.” I glance at Tessa. She gives me a not-so-subtle nod to keep going. I frown because what am I supposed to do with this? Kira misses the whole exchange in her intense interest in staring at the floor. I duck my head, peering at her and trying to get her attention. “I’m the last to tell you what to do about anything. And I totally understand that you’d want nothing to do with this. But it’s like you said—the people are looking for a hero. And if there’s anyone who’s the right person for that…” I gently lay a hand on her shoulder. She looks up. “It’s you.”

She searches my face for a moment.

I drop my hand, not sure I could feel any more awkward. Who am I to talk Kira Moore into anything?

Then she turns to Tessa and says, “Can I have a minute alone with Zeph?”

Tessa jolts, and it takes me by surprise, too. “Yeah. Sure. Of course,” she stammers, then her heels beat a staccato retreat on the dusty wooden floor, heading back to the stage. Just before she disappears through the door, she frowns back at us. I don’t like that look on her face.

Once she’s gone, I turn back to Kira. “Please don’t try to talk me into this.”

“Julian wouldn’t want that.” Tears are shining in her eyes again. “You know what he would want?”

I shake my head, my heart sinking a little.

She gives a small, pained smile. “He’d want you to keep exploring your abilities.”

My eyebrows hike up—not what I expected, but accurate. At least, as far as I knew the guy, which wasn’t far. “That was a thing with him.”

“Yeah. It was.” Her smile looks like it’s holding back a tsunami of grief. It’s kind of killing me to see it. “And he didn’t even see what you did in the clinic. I told him you belonged there, with me. He insisted on having you under his wing.” She gives a strangled laugh. “Of course, he won. He could be so stubborn.” Fresh tears course down her cheeks, let loose by the laugh. She doesn’t even try to brush them away.

I have to fight past the lump in my throat. “He told me you can’t discover what you can do unless you’re willing to face what you’re capable of. He was definitely right about that.” It took the horror of stopping my sister to find out I could reshape minds… or something.

She’s nodding, and the tears seem to recede. “He was so sure about you. That you were key to everything.”

“Yeah… I don’t know about that.” I frown.

But she steps closer to take me by the shoulders and peer up into my face, all fierce seriousness now. “I do. He said you needed to dive deep into your ability—that you were key to bridging the gap between readers and jackers.”

“Bridging the gap? What does that even mean?” Her fingers are digging into my arms.

“I… I’m not sure. He…” Her face is scrunching up again. She lets me go and steps back, finally wiping her face, angrily, like she’s mad that the tears keep coming. Then she curls up her fists at her side. “We talked about you right before the speech. He said he would tell me more afterward. And that he wanted me to help you bring out your ability.” She’s working hard to hold back the tears. “It was the last thing he said to me, Zeph.”

Holy crap. “Kira, I’m… I’m sorry.” It feels inadequate, but I don’t know what else to say.

“I need you to do this,” she says. “If he thought it was important, then it is still important. It’s key to the kind of world Julian was trying to build. And, no matter what, I’m going to make sure that world happens. We’ve sacrificed too much…” She stops again, lips pressed tight against the emotion that’s warring across her face.

“Okay,” I rush out. “Sure. Whatever you want. I need to know what I can do, anyway.” My words seem to calm her a little, which brings my heart rate down.

“Good,” she says, wiping her face again. “Let’s start tomorrow. Back at the clinic. We’ll begin with something easy and go from there. Can you be there in the morning?”

“I can probably make that work.” Between guard duty with Juliette and making sure my sister doesn’t run off. And assuming Wright doesn’t offer me a chance to see my mom. “Does this get me off the hook for running for Congress?” I try a small smile to lighten things up.

Her wry grin is a relief. “Yeah. Although I can’t speak for Tessa.”

I look to the door Tessa left through. I shouldn’t hope that she’s still out there as much as I do. “She should know I’m not senator material.”

“She worries about you.”

That snaps my attention back to Kira’s tear-streaked face. “She does?”

Kira smiles, and it seems less pained. “Tessa worries about a lot of people. But she talks about you way more than is necessary.”

I try to hide my disappointment. “Yeah, well, I’ve given people a lot to talk about lately.”

She shakes her head a little and steps closer. “She sees more than most people. And the Free Thinkers are allies.” She peers into my eyes, closer now. Her tears are gone, at least for the moment. “She’s a good person, Zeph.”

“Yeah. Better than me, for sure.”

She frowns, pulling back with a confused look. But then she lifts her chin toward the door. “Go find her. I’ll see you at the clinic tomorrow morning.”

I nod but hesitate to go. “I really am sorry about Julian.”

She just nods, and I beat a hasty retreat. When I emerge back onto the stage, a lot of the Mediation Center has already emptied out. The people that remain are milling around and talking. Tessa stands at the edge of the stage, near the stairs, in that killer dress. Her arms are crossed, and she’s biting her lip. I cross the stage toward her.

“Is she okay?” Tessa asks as soon as I’m close enough to be heard over the loud murmuring of the remnant crowd.

“Yeah. As well as she can be.” I gesture back at the closed door. “I don’t think she’s coming out, though. Probably waiting for the crowd to go home.”

The scowl on Tessa’s face deepens. “Did she talk to you about it?”

“Running for Senate? Uh, no.”

“What then?”

I take a breath, but maybe this will put the Senate thing to rest. “About my jack ability. Julian wanted me to explore it. He told her that before he died.”

“Oh.” A shudder goes through her, and she rubs her hands up and down her arms like she’s trying to warm them.

I peer at her and step closer. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just… haven’t slept much. Nightmares. You know. I’m sure everyone’s having them.” She shrugs one shoulder, but my concern is hiking up by the second. She had to deal with Julian’s dead body and the panic at The Stomp all on her own while I ran off after the assassin. Then at the clinic, with all those people dropping like flies, she was crazy brave—a reader in the middle of Jackertown, assuring me she would make sure Olivia was safe while I took off again.

I take her by the shoulders. She’s definitely shaking. “I know all about nightmares.”

She’s staring up at me now, her eyes big and luminous. The shaking seems to have calmed. “Is it your ability? Does it have that effect on you?”

I half-smile. “In a way.” She’s leaning into my hold, and I want to pull her closer. The crazy idea of kissing her looms up, but that’s just because she’s beautiful and close and we’re touching… it’s in no way appropriate for the moment.

I’m considering it anyway. Maybe just a hug.

Then she pulls back, and I have to let her go. “Do you still want to get rid of it?” she asks.

I blink, scrambling back from the ridiculous idea of making out and trying to track what she’s saying. My ability. Right. “I guess not. Not anymore. When I saved those people in the clinic, it felt like… well, for the first time, maybe there was something good to come out of it.”

“Even more good would come if you ran for Senate.”

I scowl. “Tessa. You know I can’t.”

Her expression darkens. “You’re still working for those people, aren’t you? Whoever they are. The ones who hurt your sister.”

“Yeah. They still have my parents.”

She nods, slowly, like she’s thinking this through. “I don’t know what I would do if my family was threatened. I think I might do anything.”

I don’t like the way she’s saying it. Like she thinks I would sell out anyone or anything to save my parents. Not that she’s necessarily wrong about that, but still. “Guess you don’t think much of me.”

Her eyes go wide. “No. That’s not what I—”

“It’s okay.” I wave it off, even though it feels like an arrow lodged in my chest. “It’s understandable. With everything that’s happened.” And everything she’s seen. Of me, specifically.

“No.” She’s fierce about it now. One step forward puts her right up next to me again, and with those heels, her face is close. I feel the heat of her words across my face. “I’m on your side, Zeph. You know that, don’t you?”

“Because you’re a Free Thinker? Yeah, I know.” I try not to roll my eyes. “It’s a really nice thought, peace and love between jackers and readers—”

“Is that what you think? That it’s just a stupid ideal?” She’s pissed now. Because I’m an idiot and provoking her. “That jackers and readers can’t be… friends.”

And by friends, she definitely means more than friends. And it catches me so off guard, I’m left with my mouth hanging open and no words coming out.

“Because if that’s what you think,” she says, still steaming, “then I get it. You’re just here for your family. Because they’re jackers. And when you get them free, you’ll do what you did before.”

“What did I do before?” My brain is blanking out. This argument is getting away from me fast.

“You ran away.”

She leaves me slack-jawed again. Because she’s right. That’s exactly what I’ll do, only… I’m surprised she cares. And she cares a lot, judging by the fire in her eyes and the flush in her pale cheeks. I get that crazy urge to kiss her again, but that’s just straight-up demens. She’s pissed at me. Because I might leave. Which means no running for Congress. Or maybe she cares in a way that’s a lot more personal. She worries about you. My heart’s doing some kind of spasming dance I don’t understand.

“Or…” Tessa peers up at me with that determined look. “You could stay and fight. Use your ability to make things better.”

I manage to close my gaping mouth and press my lips together. Because that’s what a hero would do. Someone like Tessa, who doesn’t even have a jack-ability, and yet she’s here, giving it her all. “I’m not like Julian. Or Kira. I’m no hero, Tessa. You should know that about me.” It pains me to say it, but it’s the truth.

“Okay, fine.” She’s blinking—too much. “If you won’t stay, then at least convince Kira to run for the Senate before you leave. She’ll listen to you. You’re a jacker, after all.”

And that cuts the most. “Tessa.”

She drops her gaze to the floor and steps back. “I have to go.”

I scramble to keep her. “I’ll do it.”

She looks up.

“I’ll talk to Kira. I’m seeing her tomorrow. I’ll do my best to convince her. She’s the right person to be the next jacker senator, anyway.”

Her eyes narrow, but she nods. Then, lips pressed, she turns away. The click of her heels down the wooden steps of the stage carries above the noise of the milling crowd and stabs little daggers into my chest. I watch her all the way to the front door before I notice Juliette and Sammi below the stage, staring up at me with wide eyes.

Great. “You guys ready to go?” I ask, my voice rough.

I patter down the stairs and don’t wait for an answer.