Early morning sunshine beamed through the entrance windows. I squinted at the dust floating in the rays as they sprayed over the living room. Argos slept at my feet soundlessly. Glancing around, my eyes took a moment to adjust, and I looked at Noah lying on the couch. His arm was draped beneath him as if it was a comfortable pillow, and his lips were slightly parted as he breathed, his side lifting and falling. I held my breath, struck by the absolute stillness of his expression—calm and relaxed—one that he never wore when he was conscious. It was as if I was looking at Noah Tomery before his last name became public enemy number one. Instead of a criminal or a drug addict, I was looking at a boy—just a boy.
"Were you down here all night?" Lily asked as she came down the stairs. Miles and her had slept in my father's room. By the looks of it, she hadn't slept well. Neither had I.
"I guess so," I said, rubbing my eyes. At some point, I had moved to the floor, and someone had draped a blanket over me. Now that I was awake, I refused to look at Noah.
Lily plopped down on the floor in front of me, cross-legged. She eyed him knowingly. "What was that about?"
"I-I don't know."
Lily rolled her eyes. "If I had to pick up his vomit, I think you can tell me if something is going on between you two," she said, then shrugged. "He's passed out anyway."
Still, my cheeks burned. I couldn't help but feel like he could hear everything we were saying, passed out or not. And even if he couldn't, I didn't know how I felt, or what was happening between us, if anything was happening at all.
"Nothing's going on," I tried.
Lily scrunched up her nose playfully. "Seriously? Him?" She said it like I had confessed.
"I swear." I scooted away from him as if to prove a point.
"Whatever you say." Lily laughed. "But I gotta say, I've never seen him sleep so hard."
I looked back at Noah, and was immediately tempted to move back. His cheeks had drained of color, and his shallow breath was unnerving. He looked like he could've been in a coma, and according to Lyn, he basically was.
"I wouldn't call it sleeping," I said, then slowly stood. "To be honest, I didn't know you could overdose on tomo."
"You can overdose on water," Lyn said, entering the room. Her ability to eavesdrop was starting to suffocate me, but when she pointed at me, I calmed. "Best you stay there."
I sulked back and sat on the edge of the couch. Noah's hand brushed my side. When he turned in his sleep, his shoulder skimmed my waist, and my eyes squeezed shut. I tried to ignore it—his touch, his wreckless behavior, his everything—but I couldn't.
"What happens if he overdoses again?" I asked. "Can he die?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?" Lyn asked, unimpressed. "Water can kill you."
I didn't understand nurse-speak.
"If someone drinks too much water too fast—"
"This isn't about water," I snapped.
Lyn's mouth hung open. "Sorry," she said as she sat across from us. "He can die from tomo, yes. It's happened before." In the dim lighting, her already dark features were impossible to read. "He won't die, though. He threw most of it up."
"How?" I asked.
"How, what?"
"How can tomo kill you?"
Lyn's shadow shifted. "It's hard on your eyes, but it's worse on the rest of your body." She tipped her chin his way. "Just look at him. I mean, really look at him."
I didn't move because I couldn't move. I didn't want to see him. I wanted to pretend he wasn't there, that he had never been there, that I didn't know he existed.
"Does he look sixteen to you?" Lyn continued, though I hadn't turned around. I didn't have to look at him to know the answer to her question. He looked older, maybe nineteen. He only seemed younger when he laughed. I hadn't even realized his age until now.
"That's the tomo," Lyn said. "It ages you. It wears you out. It damages your senses, and I mean all of them." She tapped her head.
I closed my eyes like I could erase her gesture from my mind. "Why do people take it, then?"
"Because they justify it," she said. "The reward is worth more than the risk."
My eyes popped open. "Have you ever taken it?"
Lyn froze, then glanced between Lily and me. She nodded once. "Before I was pregnant," she clarified. "It does weird things to unborn babies." She sucked in a breath like she could inhale her words.
"What?" I asked. "What is it?"
"Nothing." She shook her head and sprang to her feet. When she rubbed her tattoos, I knew she had lied. It was definitely not nothing.
Noah groaned, causing Lyn to turn her attention to him.
"He should wake up soon," she said. "There are withdrawal effects."
"Good to know," I grumbled just as the front door opened.
Everyone leapt up at the sudden intrusion. I hadn't heard him coming, and neither had anyone else. But there Broden stood, covered head-to-toe in thick mud.
"Where is he?" Broden bellowed.
"Broden," I hissed, standing up. Argos only opened one eye. He never reacted to Broden.
He slammed the door behind him as his eyes shot behind me. His shoulders rose, and he opened his mouth like he would scream, but Lyn shot him down. "Be quiet," she ordered. "All of you."
It was the mother in her. She could always control us.
Broden turned away as he shook off his jacket. Dried mud fluttered to the ground as he kicked off his shoes. I could smell nature's rot on him from a distance.
"What's going on?" Miles asked, walking out of the kitchen. When he saw Broden, he chuckled. "What happened to you?"
"I had to hide in the trees," he said. "In them," he emphasized.
Miles continued to laugh, still intoxicated. I couldn't wait for him to sober up.
"The cops were everywhere," Broden ranted. "They saw us, and I have to bet that someone called them on us." His eyes were all over Noah.
"He's asleep," I said. "He showed up here last night."
I didn't have a chance to explain how he was on drugs. Broden had already snapped, "And you're his watch guard since when?"
I stepped back. My friend had never glared at me, but he did now, and he wasn't calming down.
"I'm making sure he doesn't stop breathing," I said.
"He deserves to stop breathing," Broden snarled.
"Morning to you, too." Noah yawned as he sat up to stretch. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around. When he recognized my house, he grinned. "Must have been a good night."
Broden glowered. "Are you done flirting now, Tomery?" Broden spat Noah's last name, trying to dig under his skin, but Noah didn't flinch. Instead, he glanced at his watch—his untimed watch—and shrugged.
"I do believe it's breakfast time."
"You left me out there," Broden yelled.
Noah studied Broden's disheveled appearance for the first time. His lips pulled into a smirk. "You can handle yourself," he said, borderline proud. "Obviously."
Broden didn't budge. "Where'd you go?"
"Here," Noah answered blankly. His poker face hinted that he didn't remember much of last night, but I didn't dare intervene. This was the boys' fight, and Broden wasn't accepting Noah's answer.
"You never even showed up."
Noah sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You were fine, man."
"But the others—"
"They were fine, too," Noah answered. "Better than fine, actually. They should have an alibi now."
Broden blinked. "An alibi."
"Everyone was seen by the cops, right?" Noah pressed. "So, they couldn't have been elsewhere."
Noah wasn't about to elaborate on what he did, but he did do something, and for others.
I wondered how many others there were. I only knew of Broden, Noah, and Miles, but my father had turned out to be involved, too. Pierson was the only stranger I had met, and Tasia was the only other person I had heard about. For all I knew, everyone was involved in one way or another. It sure felt that way.
"Where. Were. You?" Broden repeated.
"We'll talk about this later—"
"Where—"
"I got into the record's building," Noah relented.
Broden's jaw dropped, and mine did the same. The record's building had top-of-the-notch security. Rumor said that the record's building was the only place in all of the regions that held every person's information, even the ones that supposedly didn't exist.
"I think I did, anyway," Noah added.
Broden raised his hands. "What do you mean by that?"
Noah didn't speak. He simply kicked his feet off of the couch and laid his elbows on his knees. He hung his head and moved his neck in slow circles. From my position, I could see red marks on his collarbone where he must have hit it, but I didn't see anything else. For breaking into a secured building, he was strangely in good shape.
"Let's continue this conversation after we eat," Lyn suggested, waving toward the kitchen.
Noah's eyes lit up. "You always say the perfect things."
Even Lyn was capable of smiling. Noah had that effect on people, charming them even after doing something horrible. Broden was the only one who was immune.
"I still don't believe you," he said as Noah stood up.
"I'm used to it," Noah retorted, walking right past him.
I grabbed Broden's arm before he could follow. "Wait," I whispered.
Broden glared at me once more. My hand dropped, and only then did Broden's gaze fell.
"Rough night," he said. It was his apology.
"I know," I said, making sure that no one was listening to us, "but I need to talk to you."
"About Noah?" he guessed. When I nodded, his jaw tensed. "I don't need to listen to you about taking his side again."
"I'm not."
Broden's peripheral vision met my determined stare. "What is it, then?"
"I don't think he got into the record's building."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he was on tomo when he came back," I said. "He wasn't even gone that long."
Broden rolled his eyes, grumbling, "Why does that not surprise me?"
Clearly, he thought Noah had ditched him to take drugs. But he didn't understand what I was saying.
"Listen to me." I grabbed his arms as if I would shake him. "I think Noah saw the record's building, but I don't think he went there. Not yet, anyway."
The worst was yet to come.