Six
Parker

“This … I think it’s from my dad.” The spoken words felt like they’d vibrated out of me in some strange way.

I didn’t look up, but I heard Finn whisper something to Mia and they both came out into the backyard and stood nearby.

My heart pounded in my ears as I carefully opened the yellow envelope and reached inside. My fingers closed around something smooth and leathery. When I pulled it out, the first thing I saw was the symbol of the Night Walker Society staring back at me: a skull and crossbones wearing two eye patches—the Blind Skull.

Dad had sent me his old wallet. I remembered seeing it as a kid, and the same symbol was on Jack’s leather jacket. But why was I receiving this now? And how had Dad arranged the delivery when he’d been in the Takers’ prison?

A small, folded-up paper fell out of the wallet and onto my lap. I reached for it with trembling fingers and carefully unfolded it.

Parker—

If you’ve received this, it means I haven’t been able to prevent it from being sent. I’m sorry that I’m not there with you now. Know that I died fighting for you and your future. Ask for Jack at the Cypress Crest Trailer Park and tell them I sent you—he has all the
answers you need. Give him this note.

I missed you every single day. Never doubt that.

—Dad

Each heartbeat felt like it tore a new hole through me. Reading his words, his thoughts … realizing he’d always had some kind of plan in place for me to learn the truth. It meant more to me than I thought it would.

At the bottom of the page, the letter continued:

Jack—

It’s up to you now. Tell Randall that I said it’s time to begin. Trust Parker and no one else. It’s time to tell him everything and for you to work together. He is your ally and it’s time to act like it. You can do this.
I know you can. Do not doubt yourself.

I’m sorry for everything I couldn’t do.

—Dad

I gaped at the words. No wonder Jack was so bitter and jealous when we’d first met. The difference between the way Dad acted with me and with him was clear. It was obvious Dad had been afraid some enemy could get ahold of this letter and use it against him, but wasn’t that what he’d been afraid of for Jack’s entire life? This was just how it had always been between them.

And that made me abruptly sad for my brother.

I couldn’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for Jack … to always know that Dad was his father but for Dad to never act like it. To see the way Dad talked about me and the difference in how he reacted to his two sons—it must’ve been hell.

But at least Jack got to know him. I’d have given anything for that simple chance.

“What did your dad say?” Finn asked, and I handed him the paper. He read it and passed it on to Addie and Mia.

I pulled out my phone and hit the power button. It hadn’t rung, it hadn’t vibrated, and it hadn’t beeped … but I still picked it up and watched it like it could suddenly tell me what Jack was doing and if he was okay. I scrolled through the screens like doing so might tell it I was waiting. Like now that I’d touched it, the phone would suddenly have the information I wanted … but no, nothing.

Jack had to come back—the sooner the better—and read this letter. I wasn’t sure if anything Dad had said to Jack here would help him with piecing together the new formula, but either way, he had to read it.

I pulled up a text box and sent one single message.

You need to come back.

“When do you think your dad sent this?” Addie asked.

“I’m not sure. Sometime before he was captured.” I stretched my neck to one side and then the other, trying to let go of the sadness that had seeped into me from the letter. “Being exhausted and Divided for so long had my dad pretty messed up. It sounds like he’s been preparing for this a long time.”

“I’m sorry,” Mia said, and then she bent over to hug me.

I hugged her back, grateful my friends were here with me. I opened the wallet that still sat on my lap and looked through it, but it was empty. And as far as I could tell, except for the symbol on it, it was just a normal wallet.

“Do you think you should call Jack?” Addie rested her head against my shoulder again.

“I texted him to come back. I don’t think it’s something I should read over the phone, and also, he might see some kind of hidden meaning that I can’t. Maybe he’ll have an idea what Dad’s message is about. For now, I guess we just wait.” I stood up, and Finn seemed to know I didn’t want to discuss this anymore because he picked up the basketball and tossed it my way.

I dribbled the ball in the warm afternoon sunlight, focusing on the way it felt in my hands and how it bounced differently if it hit a crack in the cement. Anything that might serve as a good distraction. I didn’t realize my friends had continued talking until I looked up and saw them all watching me.

“I’m sorry, I’m distracted. What did you say?” I took a shot and Finn grabbed the ball after it went through the hoop. Addie walked over and draped an arm around my waist.

“It was nothing. We were just discussing whether there’s anything we want to do tonight. Are you tired?” She gave me a quick sideways glance before her cheeks flushed a little.

I realized what she was referring to, and I hoped the others didn’t notice. The last couple of nights in her dreams, we’d spent a little more time making out than having her actually help me sleep. It was one of the unforeseen hazards—and perks—of your amazingly hot girlfriend also being the Builder who helped you sleep and kept you alive.

“A little.” I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. The truth was that yes, I was feeling kind of tired and would have to find some self-control so I could get at least some sleep in Addie’s dreams tonight. “You come up with any ideas?”

“No … ” Addie and Finn said simultaneously.

“Nothing that we can all agree on,” Mia added.

“Not surprising.” I gave them a half smile and stopped trying to avoid the subject we were all thinking about. “I’m worried about Jack and this formula crap.”

“Our searches for information aren’t exactly panning out, and he’s still not answering many questions,” Finn said. After making a shot, he turned to face me immediately. “What else can we do to help?”

“I don’t know.” I ran my hands through my hair, which I’d let grow out a little longer over the last couple of months. It curled at the back of my neck, and I tugged at the ends, using the little jolts of pain to try to focus my mind on finding an idea that might get me somewhere.

The truth was that what I wanted to do was exactly what Jack didn’t want me to do. I’d been sitting here all day trying to figure out how to not piss him off and somehow be helpful at the same time. Maybe it just wasn’t possible. Maybe I had to give up on keeping him happy. Deep down I knew it was fear that drove me. I was scared that if I made him angry he might disappear again, the way Dad did. The way he had done before.

But I couldn’t live like this forever, and I didn’t want to.

Brothers were supposed to make each other mad sometimes, right? I guessed now was as good a time as any to see how my big brother was going to react when I did just that.

“I can’t sit here and wait for the Takers to attack us again. We know they’re going to—we just don’t know when, where, or how. I don’t want to be here waiting for it to happen, no matter what Jack says.” I looked at my friends, and although the fear in their eyes mimicked mine, none looked like they wanted to argue with the idea of taking action. “We have to do something. I’m just not sure what.”

Mia spoke up suddenly, her voice surprisingly firm. “Maybe we need to start by figuring out what they are doing.”

Ever since she’d begun meeting with a psychologist a few weeks ago, Mia had really started coming out of her shell. But it still surprised me sometimes. The psychologist had recommended she try taking painting lessons again. Painting had brought out a new spark in her, which was so nice to see.

Addie put her hand in mine, looking nervous. I felt the same way. Especially because every scenario I could come up with to figure out what the Takers were doing left me feeling cold inside. “How could we find that out?”

Mia shrugged. “I don’t know, but your side can’t be as powerless against the Takers as it seems, can it?”

“I seriously hope not.” My voice sounded grim. “We have to be able to do something to fight back.”

“I’m not sure.” Addie’s grip on my hand had tightened so much it was cutting off circulation. “Jack said you were safest here. He said you were helping him here.”

“He said I was helping by moving his motorcycle.” I sighed and looked at Addie. I hated seeing fear in her eyes and knowing it was because of me. But that fear would never go away until this war with the Takers was over. We could pretend that the Takers weren’t out there all we wanted, but it wouldn’t make it any better. “This isn’t just Jack’s fight. I have to help … and I’ll do everything I can to stay safe, but I am not going to just sit here and do as I’m told. Not anymore. I’ll come up with some kind of plan. I’m going to help.”

Addie still looked scared, but she squeezed my hand tighter and then exchanged a look with Finn and Mia, who nodded. Finally, she turned back to me and said, “Then whatever you decide to do, we’re in, too.”

Before I could utter my first word of argument, she cut me off. “Don’t even start. If there’s anything the last year has taught us, it’s that our odds are infinitely better when all four of us work together. Don’t try to stop us.”

The breath I’d been planning to argue with sputtered out of me, and I laughed. “All right then.”

Addie grinned, but the look on Finn’s face was anything but pleased.

“I was just thinking … ” Finn shuddered and then gave me a pointed look that told me that whatever he was about to say, he really didn’t want to be saying. “Jack might not be willing to talk to us about the Takers and everything yet, but he isn’t the only one we know with answers anymore.”

I realized what he was saying instantly and understood his reluctance. I’m pretty sure no one would look forward to working with the person who’d taken over their body for several days. “Chloe.”

Addie and Mia both looked hesitant, so I tried to convince them. “I know … but she really is the only option we haven’t tried yet. Isn’t it worth at least asking her?”

Finn stared down at his feet, but the girls reluctantly nodded.

“Great. Anyone have any way to get ahold of her?”

Addie and Mia both frowned, but Finn closed his eyes and groaned. “I think I remember it … ”

He grabbed my phone and punched in a contact entry and number under the name “Body Snatcher” before stalking away and muttering, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Right after I sent a quick text to Chloe, my phone chimed with an incoming text. I hoped it was from Chloe or Jack, but Mom’s smiling picture popped up instead.

The message was short, sweet, and gave me an entirely new distraction to focus on.

We need to have a talk about Jack. I’m heading home for a bit. If you aren’t home, meet me there.