The Similars (The Similars #1)(80)

“Or to make sure I didn’t try to stop them,” he offers. I nod in understanding. We stand next to each other, but we don’t touch. Whatever closeness we shared last night is outside of this moment, though I’m sure he’s thinking of it as much as I am.

Or maybe he isn’t. Maybe he didn’t dream about me all night, the way I dreamed about him. The thought is sobering. It dawns on me that Levi didn’t grow up like I did, hasn’t attended high school until this year. His declaration of…whatever that was, might not mean the same thing to him that it meant to me.

“Levi,” I say, “I didn’t exactly sleep well last night, after…” My cheeks flush.

“Me either,” he says, his eyes focused on mine.

I could get lost in those gray eyes for good…

I force myself to focus. “I couldn’t stop thinking about Prudence. And her father. Pru’s mom is sick. Really sick. She’s probably going to die soon, and, and…” I pause, willing myself not to cry. “I have to go to Pru. Find her. Bring her home.”

“Emma, I know how much you care about her, but what do you think you’re going to do? You know nothing about Castor Island. How would you even get there?”

“That’s where you come in,” I say quietly. “You have to tell me everything you know about it. Where it is, how to find it, how to get her out.”

“No,” says Levi. “Absolutely not.”

“Excuse me?” I say, wheeling on him.

“It’s too dangerous. You don’t know what that place is like,” Levi says. “What he’s like.”

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?” My eyes are bright with tears now. “Would joining my best friend in death be so terrible if it helped me save another friend?” I meet Levi’s gaze and see the recognition in his face. He gets how serious I am. That I will not, cannot, be persuaded to stand by and do nothing. “This is Pru we’re talking about. Levi—I don’t have a choice.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” he says. “The island is off the grid and Gravelle is dangerous. If you’re going to have any chance of success… You need me. I can get us in. But we’ll need to prepare.”

“Fine,” I relent. “You have two weeks.”





The Journey


Levi is right. I do need him. I’d have no chance of getting to Castor Island without him. It was ridiculous of me to think I could. Still, I worry I’m putting him in danger by asking him to return to his home. I feel the unfairness of it with every atom of my being. I have the privilege, the freedom to leave Darkwood, the state, the country without fear that I’ll arouse suspicion. Levi, as a Similar, enjoys none of that safety. And yet, he’s determined to join me.

Gravelle is twisted, a self-made lunatic, Levi reminds me. And though I feel sick at the thought of putting Levi in more danger with his guardian, part of me thrills that we’ll take this journey together. If I’m heading on a kamikaze mission, I want it to be with him.

We make our plans carefully. We will leave in two weeks, after our next science exam. With prep and study sessions before, our teachers would know something was wrong if we weren’t there. Missing a few classes afterward will be less noticeable, and we need a head start. We don’t want to tip off our teachers too soon.

Levi warns me that anyone who enters the island without Gravelle’s express permission faces consequences. I am nervous but undaunted. Oliver went to Castor Island, and Prudence is there now. She needs us. I buzz Jaeger, leaving a message to tell me if he hears from Prudence. I don’t let on that I’m planning on going after her. I have a feeling he already knows.

Dash finds me the times of the early morning buses out of town. Levi and I plan to walk the three miles to the bus station, then take the most inconspicuous bus to Bar Harbor, where we’ll catch our ferry. We will tell no one besides Maude what we’re planning. We’ll give her our keys to hold, hoping we’ll be long gone before the school, or anyone, realizes we’ve left the Darkwood campus.

Levi and I plot routes and strategies, anticipating what Gravelle might say or do to us when we arrive on the island. We haven’t mentioned our kiss again. It’s like neither of us wants to acknowledge what we said, what we did, for fear the memory of it will burst.

While we plan, Levi confronts his friends. They confirm what I had suspected—that Ransom is behind the research. They agreed to play his game because they felt they had no other choice.

“We have to do something. We can’t let Ransom treat them like lab rats. Like specimens,” I tell Levi. It’s late afternoon, and the April landscape is starting to bud as we stand by Dark Lake, staring out at its glassy surface.

“Ransom isn’t well. Maude said he suffers from a host of autoimmune diseases. He’s counting on his research to provide him longevity. A guarantee that he will not die before his time.”

“I still can’t understand why they agreed to it. Why Maude lied to me—”

“She didn’t lie. She kept the truth from you to protect you, Emmaline. What good does it do you to know about this?”

“I can help,” I insist hotly. “I can stop him…”

“And Gravelle too? It’s bad enough you want to travel to Castor Island. You can’t fight Ransom. Leave that to my friends. When the time is right, they’ll expose him. Maude swore to me that ever since they signed Ransom’s waiver, they’ve been planning to take him down. In their own time.”