“You grew up nice.” Since my hair’s a mess and my skin is streaked with dried mud, I know he’s just being polite. Or maybe this is the look they go for in the wilderness, I don’t know.
“I had no idea you escaped. I thought TechRA carted you away and you never came back.” Even as I say the words, I realize how foolish they are. If the Underground went to all this trouble to break me out, of course they would’ve rescued one of their own members’ sons.
“I was the very first breakout,” he says. “And only because my dad had this idea for a secret community and insisted I be the one to lead it. We don’t rescue someone often, as you can imagine. It’s a huge risk to our members inside the agency. A huge risk to the entire Underground.” He slants a look at Logan. “My brother must have put up a really strong case to the board, to get you out.”
Logan flushes and darts a glance at me. “I explained about my future memory. They listened.”
His memory. The one that made him talk to me that day in the park. The one that he warned me was unexpected. It must’ve concerned me, if it caused the board members to authorize my rescue.
Curiosity thrums through my body. What could the memory be? But Logan has clamped his mouth shut. If he didn’t tell me in private, he’s not about to tell me here, in front of his brother.
“I’m glad you’re free,” Mikey says to me and then turns to his brother. “But that doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.”
“The board said if I wanted Callie out, I had to do it myself.” Logan’s words are slow and even, as if he’s practiced this answer for days. “They would provide me with the resources, but I had to take the risk myself.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of the policy.” Mikey’s voice rises. “But the policy doesn’t explain why my little brother was concerning himself with Underground business in the first place. Why he would risk his swimming career before it even began.”
“They were going to make her fulfill her memory, Mikey. She went to detainment to stop her future, but if her memory was going to happen anyway, how could I leave her cooped up like that? She can’t even stand to be away from the windows at school.” His breath comes in big, anxious pants. At that moment, he sounds more like the nervous T-minus five boy I knew than the brave guy who rescued me. “I wasn’t intending on coming with her, I swear. But she doesn’t know how to swim. So I jumped in the river with her.”
Mikey puffs out a breath. “Ah, romance. Isn’t it grand? It screws with your mind and makes you do stupid things like throw your future away. So, tell me.” His face tightens, and he gestures between Logan and me. “When did this begin?”
This? I dart a look at Logan, not sure what “this” is. Should I tell Mikey we held hands as we walked into Harmony? That’s something, right?
Across the hut, Logan’s face wavers in and out of the shadows. But he doesn’t respond.
“Um,” I say. “We kinda just started talking again.”
“Explain,” Mikey barks.
“We used to be friends five years ago,” I say, still looking at Logan, still wanting him to take the lead. “And then we stopped. He started speaking to me again the day before I got my memory.”
Mikey wraps his hand around a stool made from a tripod of sticks. There’s a platform in the middle, but he’s certainly not offering me a seat. “You haven’t talked for five years?”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t believe this.” His grip tightens and I can see the white of his knuckles even through the dimness of the hut. “I wouldn’t have approved, but I could understand, at least, if you put your life on hold for the love of your life. But this girl’s a stranger! You have no connection with her other than a childhood friendship a lifetime ago. For this you risked everything? Logan, you’re not a kid anymore. You have a responsibility to everyone here. We rely on you. You can’t go running off on a whim with some girl.”
Logan finally speaks up. “Maybe Callie’s only part of it. Maybe the other part is because I wanted to see you again. Did you ever think of that?”
This stops Mikey. Because it’s not an excuse. It’s not something