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I felt John watch me for a moment. Then he walked through the doorway first, reaching his hand out for mine. I took it and entered, quickly turning off the alarm.

Absolutely everything was gone. No furniture. No pictures. No carpets. Completely empty and professionally cleaned. They’d had it swept of any trace of them. John and I stood in the entrance and stared.

“It’s true,” I said. “They made it like it never, ever happened.”

“How did they do this so quickly?” John asked.

I didn’t answer; I just started walking upstairs. All the family photos were gone from the hallway.

When we got to the door of my bedroom, I paused before opening it. All I had now were the clothes I was wearing. I expected nothing to be there. No trace left of my childhood. The last time I’d been in there, I’d been with Liv. That already felt like it belonged to a different lifetime.

I opened the door, and we were both taken aback to see furniture in this room. The only room in the house. They had wanted their DNA removed from the house, but I was on my own. The room was untouched since the last time I’d been in here, the white throw pillows from the window seat on the floor where Liv had tossed them.

John walked over to the bed and stood staring at it.

He was looking at the gold necklace, deliberately laid out on my pillow. Someone—Liv, Novak—had put it there for me. I had needed to leave it. It didn’t feel like my birthright. Why didn’t they take it?

“What are they trying to tell you?”

“I’m not sure.” I didn’t like it and I didn’t want it, but I assumed it was a parting gift. I was banking on Novak being relieved I’d left, that I’d shown my true colors and, heartbroken, had gone after Angus. I was also counting on him fulfilling his goals far from John and me. I didn’t want my family to die away, but John wasn’t the answer. Liv hadn’t read his mind; I had. And if he was meant for me instead of Liv—well, we could see how that played out in John’s world, not in Novak’s.

I didn’t want to touch the necklace, but I quickly picked it up and put it in my pocket, then turned to face John. I took a huge breath and exhaled.

“You okay?” he asked, concerned but not overbearing. He always seemed to respond to me just the right way, like he could read me.

“I’m really good.” I still couldn’t believe he’d come for me. I smiled thinking about the moment we finally gave in to this connection between us.

In the back of my mind, I thought about Angus and Liv, and I knew I would never stop. I was worried about Angus, and I wondered if and when I’d ever find him. I told John I wouldn’t stop searching, much to his annoyance. I couldn’t read John’s mind and wasn’t sure if I ever would be able to again, but I could sense his resentment and fear when he thought of me finding Angus, my last connection to what I’d given up.

I was also anxious about Liv. Whether it was rational or not, I knew a part of me would forever feel selfish for choosing myself over her. The two people she loved most were on the outside now.

We had stayed up all night. It felt so good to tell John about the edge I’d been living on these past months, explaining more about myself and why I’d acted the way I had. I told him about Angus’s family and about my mother. I also told him it was wise to have a healthy dose of paranoia, because the police and the FBI were probably watching me. I was sure that at any time now I would be questioned about everything I knew. And by association John would be as well. Just like the day we met and he found himself at the police station. Over and over again he assured me I was worth it.

I had held back a few things. I would never speak a word of any details I knew about Relocation. It wasn’t worth the risk for him or them. I had heard the threats Novak had made to Lati, but mainly I would stay silent for the rest of my life to protect my sister and my friends.

I’d also decided not to tell John how he appeared in Novak’s vision. There was no need to burden him like that. It was done. I wanted to put behind me that John had ever been in danger and that he had any connection to us.

I saw the manila envelope on my desk at the same time John did. My name was scrawled in Victoria’s handwriting.

“Will you open it?” I asked. My nerves were getting the best of me now that it looked like I was safe.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go ahead. They would never leave me a personal note.”

John opened the envelope and took out a set of documents. After a minute of scanning them, he started laughing.

“What?” I crossed over to him and gently laid my hand on his arm, peering at the thick stack he held in his hand.

“You won’t need to worry about getting a scholarship. You can officially pay for college.” It was an irrevocable trust. The house was in my name, as well as multiple other properties and assets, making them safe from being seized and frozen. There was another envelope as well. It was full of cash. John handed that to me before he put the papers back in the envelope, threw the envelope on the desk, and turned to face me.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s just weird, that’s all. That envelope is the last I’ll hear from them. It’s the last thing I have that they touched. I’m free.”

I put my arms around his neck and leaned back, gazing up at him. I couldn’t believe he was mine. I couldn’t stop looking at him or touching him.