“What are you going to do?” Julia’s mother asks.

“Skype with Dad, if that’s what it takes,” Julia responds, turning on the laptop.

As her video call is connecting, Julia motions for Eugene and me to come closer. We gather around the computer, and I see a middle-aged man with tired, beady eyes appear on the screen.

An expression of distaste crosses his stern face as he sees Eugene.

“Hello, Jacob, sir,” Eugene says respectfully.

“Hi Dad,” Julia says.

“Hello,” I say politely.

“Who are you?” Jacob asks, staring at me.

“This is Darren, Dad,” Julia says, “a new Reader we discovered.”

“A new Reader?” he says, watching me intently. “You look familiar to me, kid. Who are your parents?”

“He doesn’t know who they are,” Eugene jumps in, and Jacob’s face reddens at the sound of his voice. I’m glad Eugene volunteered this information because, as embarrassing as it is, I don’t know the last names of my parents. Just their first names: Mark and Margret. I need to find out their last names when we’re out of this mess. For all I know, I could have extended family in this very room.

“Everyone knows who their parents are,” Jacob retorts, but he’s not looking at Eugene. He’s still boring into me with his beady eyes. “But we’ll continue this conversation another time. For now, I’d like to know what this call is about,” he says, turning his attention to Julia, “as well as what he—” he gestures at Eugene, “—is doing in our compound.”

“Eugene needs our help, Dad,” Julia explains. She then proceeds to tell her father a much smoother, more plausible version of the theory about Eugene’s parents. She’s good. She downplays the research Eugene and his dad worked on, which appears to be controversial in this community. She highlights the Pusher involvement every chance she gets. “So I want to help them and learn more about this matter,” she says in conclusion.

“Hell, no,” her father says, catching me completely by surprise. “I thought I forbade you from ever consorting with that half-blood.”

“This has nothing to do with my personal life; it’s about standing up to the Pushers,” Julia says, glaring at her father. Her face takes on a rebellious look, making me remember my own interactions with Uncle Kyle.

“My decision is final,” Jacob says. “I want him out of the community. He should be grateful our security saved his life. If I had been at the compound, that would not—”

Before Jacob gets a chance to finish his last sentence, Julia closes the laptop with an angry bang.

This seems like as good a time as any for me to phase into the Quiet, and I do.

When everything is still again, I look around. Julia is clearly pissed. Her mother’s expression is neutral. Though Sam is standing a bit to the side, he clearly heard the conversation because he looks grimly satisfied.

It’s interesting to contemplate the fact that in this room, everyone could be doing what I’m doing right now, at any time. Are people watching me frozen as they do so? It’s hard to imagine myself standing there, not moving, not thinking, as someone else goes about his or her business while I’m none the wiser.

Shelving these thoughts for later, I touch Eugene’s forearm.

“What do we do now?” I ask him when he joins me in the Quiet. “That was a huge flop.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Eugene says. “I didn’t really have a clear plan.”

“This Julia, how do you know her? She seems to be sympathetic.”

“We had a class together in college. Then, for some reason, she agreed to date me.” He smiles ruefully. “But when her father found out my status, he freaked out. He’s very traditional.”

“And this is supposed to be more open-minded than Russia?”

“That I’m alive is testament to that,” Eugene says. “I thought we might have a chance at getting help here because Jacob hates Pushers more than anyone. Under normal circumstances, anyone even remotely in trouble with Pushers automatically becomes an ‘enemy of his enemy’ kind of friend.”

“Except you,” I say, looking at him.

“Right. I think my history with Julia hurt our chances. The problem is, this is Mira’s life on the line, not mine.”

“If you don’t mind, I want to talk to Julia some more,” I say, unwilling to give up.

“Go ahead,” he says. He looks over at her, his face drawn. There’s something in his eyes, in the way he watches her, that tells me he’s far from over her. Then he shakes his head, looking away. “I’m not sure if it’s going to help, though.”

Instead of arguing, I walk over to her and pull her in.

“Darren.” She smiles at me. “I was about to Split to talk to the two of you. It looks like you beat me to it.”

“It’s funny how that works,” Eugene says. “I have this time-slicing algorithm I developed that simulates—”

“Eugene, I’m so sorry about my dad,” Julia interrupts him gently. My guess is that she wanted to stop a science diatribe. I suspect it’s not the first time she’s done this. “Let’s talk about what we can do for Mira, if you don’t mind.”

“After the conversation with your dad, I thought you wouldn’t be able to do anything to help,” Eugene responds, science forgotten as worry shadows his face again.

“I’m going with you,” she says. “Together, we’ll get her out of whatever trouble she’s in.”

“No,” Eugene protests. “That would be too dangerous—”

“I’m doing this.” She gives him a steely look. “I’ve had enough of people telling me what to do.”

“No, Julia, I don’t mean to tell you what to do.” Eugene immediately backtracks. “I just worry about you, that’s all . . .”

Her icy glare warms considerably, and she takes a step toward him.

“With all due respect,” I interject, “how can you help us, Julia? This sounds like a job for someone like that.” I point at motionless Caleb.

“I’m good at getting into places I shouldn’t—picking locks, that kind of thing,” Julia says, turning to look at me. “It’s a skill that could come in handy in exactly the type of mission I imagine this will become. But you’re right, we need Caleb or one of his people. We have to convince him to help without my dad’s orders.”

“How do we do that?” Eugene asks.

“Can we pay him?” I suggest. With the stock options I got in the gym, money will soon be easy to come by. Even easier than it usually has been for me.

“If you’re talking about money, it won’t work,” Julia says. “But there are other forms of payment.”

“What are you suggesting?” Eugene looks puzzled.

“Nothing sinister.” Julia grins. “You see, your friend Darren seems to have impressed Caleb. Actually, he impressed both of us with his Reading Depth.”

“Oh?” Eugene says, and I recall that this is a sensitive subject for these people. Something like asking about the size of someone’s paycheck or his package were the analogies used, I think.

“What does my Reading Depth have to do with Caleb?” I ask.

“Caleb is obsessed with improving his fighting skills,” Julia says. “He’s already rumored to be the best fighter among the Readers. Still, he’s always looking to get better.”

“I’m not going to fight him, if that’s what you’re about to offer,” I say, shuddering. I’m not a fan of violence, plus I’m not suicidal. The guy will probably kill me before I get a single punch in.

Julia laughs. If she weren’t laughing at my expense, I would say her laugh was nice. In general, she’s a very pretty girl. I can see why Eugene likes her, and I can tell that he truly does. I’m less clear why the reverse is true, but it must be, as I catch her giving him decidedly warm glances. It’s weird—I always thought geeky types like Eugene didn’t do well with women. Of course, this is based solely on my friend Bert, which isn’t exactly a valid statistical sample.

“No, Darren, thank you for offering, but I’m not asking you to fight Caleb,” she says, still having a hard time keeping a straight face. I’m insulted. How does she know I’m not secretly some Kung Fu master?

“You have an amazing Reading Depth,” she continues. “You can offer to take him into the mind of some famous fighters. I suspect he would find the idea intriguing.”

Eugene looks from me to her uncomfortably. “But—”

“Eugene, please, I’m trying to help save your sister,” Julia interrupts, and Eugene falls silent, his expression smoothing out.

“Can someone actually do that? Bring another person into someone else’s mind?” I ask, wondering what Eugene had been about to say. He’d seemed worried about something for a moment.

“Yes,” she says, “absolutely. It depletes your power even faster than pulling someone in, but from what I saw, you won’t have a problem with that.”

“Why can’t Caleb do this himself?” I ask. “Why can’t he Read some fighter’s mind on his own?”

“For all his fighting prowess, Caleb isn’t very powerful when it comes to matters of the Mind Dimension,” Julia explains. “He can’t go back very far at all with his Reading, and he can’t do it very often, which is exactly why such an opportunity might appeal to him.”

I consider questioning her further to figure out what made Eugene uncomfortable, but then I decide against it. “Fine, I’ll do it,” I say instead. I can’t see any other way to help Mira at the moment, and I find the idea of doing this fighter Reading thing rather intriguing. If Caleb is doing it to get better at fighting, does it mean that by joining him, I could get better, too? Or, more accurately, will I actually learn how to fight as a result of this?

“Great, Eugene, let’s go so they can have some privacy,” Julia says, grabbing his arm and pulling him back toward their frozen bodies.

“I don’t know how to thank you for this, Darren,” Eugene says on his way to his frozen body, and I shrug in response, still unsure what the big deal is.

As soon as they phase out, I walk up to Caleb and pull him in.

“Darren,” he says with a smirk. “To what do I owe the honor of being pulled into your own personal Mind Dimension?”

“Julia said you might be able to help us, for a price,” I begin, and Caleb laughs.

“Did she now? And what did Julia think would be my price?” His grin reminds me of a hungry shark.

“She said you like fighting, in all its forms,” I say, hoping I don’t sound crazy. “She said I can take you into the mind of a couple of fighters as payment.”

“Interesting,” he says, crossing his arms. “And did she say anything else?”

“No, just that.”

“You really did just learn how to Read yesterday, didn’t you, Darren?” he says, still grinning. “What Julia ‘forgot’ to mention to you is that very few Readers would agree to offer me this kind of deal.”

“Why?” I ask, wondering if I’m about to learn the reason for Eugene’s concern.

“Because it’s considered a private, almost intimate experience to pull someone else into a Reading,” Caleb says, his grin fading. “You get glimpses of the other Reader’s mind, and vice versa.”

“Oh.” I try to keep my jaw from dropping. “What does that feel like?”

“I only did it once,” he says, completely serious now. “But that time, it was incredible.”

I stare at him for a moment, then shrug. “I don’t care,” I say. “To save Mira, I’ll do it. I’ll let you get inside the heads of a couple of people of your choice.”

Caleb looks like a happy shark again. “We have a deal then,” he says, smiling widely. “I’ll let you know whose minds I choose.”

Why do I feel like I did something reckless just now?

“Oh, don’t make the long face,” he says, apparently sensing my sudden unease. “I promise not to deplete your Depth. We both know you can go back very far, so getting to see a few fights shouldn’t be a problem at all. We won’t see how these men began their careers, only something fairly recent.”

“Okay, sure.” I decide to worry about it later.

“Good. Now pull Eugene and Julia back in.”

I do as he says.

“Here’s the plan, people,” Caleb barks, taking control of the situation. “Eugene and Darren will leave, looking exceedingly disappointed. Julia, I’ll meet you in the parking lot after I get the supplies I’m going to need. We’ll pick you gentlemen up on Emmons Avenue.”

“Who else is coming with us?” Julia asks. “Not Sam, I presume?”

“You presume correctly,” Caleb says. “It will be just me.”

“Just you?” Julia frowns.

“Oh, ye of little faith.” Caleb smirks at her. “One of me is probably overkill for this mission.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says. “I don’t doubt your machismo, Caleb; I just want the girl to survive the rescue.”

“She will,” Caleb assures her. “You have my word on that.”

“Okay, then let’s get back to our real lives,” Julia says.

“Hold up. Darren, there’s something you should know,” Caleb says, turning toward me. “I’ve known Mira for a while. She’s a good kid. I was going to offer to help Eugene anyway—especially since I knew Julia would do something reckless, and Jacob would hold me liable for her actions regardless of my involvement. Not to mention, I like a good skirmish.”

“So I didn’t need to agree to this deal?” I say dryly, and he shakes his head.

“Nope. You didn’t. But a deal is a deal.” He winks at me. “I’m really looking forward to all this.”

Leaving the community with apparent dejection, Eugene and I make our way to Emmons Avenue, to the exact place where we caused the last car crash. There are still bits of plastic and glass on the asphalt, but the broken cars have apparently been towed.

I’m deep in thought, trying to understand how I got involved in all this craziness.

“Darren, about taking Caleb into someone’s mind,” Eugene breaks the silence.

“He already told me; you see into each other’s minds,” I tell him.

“Oh, good. I’m surprised Caleb was so honest,” Eugene says with relief. “Julia should’ve warned you. She can be kind of ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants.”

Before I can reply, we’re interrupted by a loud car honk. It’s a Hummer—occupied by Caleb and Julia.

Of course Caleb drives a Hummer, I think as I get in.

“Give me that address, Darren. We have a damsel in distress,” Caleb says.

I give him the address, and he sets his GPS to the location. With a roar, the Hummer is off, moving through the streets of Brooklyn like a tank.