Chris glares at everyone, while Trent and Zoe just look around like they’re lost. Adam takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, standing a little apart from the others. He slips his glasses back on and meets my gaze. He mouths my name, but I look away quickly, his betrayal still as sharp as the pain in my ribs.
Some of the scientists rush forward to take our backpacks. They yank mine off before I can stop them, and only then do I realize I never emptied mine out. There shouldn’t be anything too bad in there, but I hide my hands behind my back and peel off my fake fingerprints. I don’t know if they’d still work now (are they electronic?) but they’d lead to too many questions. I slip them into my pocket, and my fingers brush over paper—the reports we stole from Aether’s headquarters. I drop
