Phillip sat by my side, watching carefully as the nurse rehydrated me. Somehow, someone had messed up and put a high-salt-solution drip into my veins. Worse, they were probably just following Ancien's instructions. I had to stop this. It didn't matter what I had to do. I needed to fix this.

I'd been in and out of consciousness all night, but this time, when I woke up, I finally felt like myself again. I had been given another chance. I'd had a taste of death. A taste of what ultimate loneliness felt like. I couldn't help but laugh at how melodramatic I had been the week before. I knew now in my bones how precious my life was. How unique and sacred my short existence was and how quickly it could all go away. Yes, life was hard. Yes, it felt lonely. In many ways, life was the worst conceivable fate—other than death, that is.

This feeling in my bones made me even more outraged about what Thor had done. Cutting short other people's lives for what? Profit? Trading other people's already short stint on this planet for mere dollars? It was disgusting.

"Phillip," I muttered. He was half asleep in the corner, but immediately he jumped up and came to my side. "We need to get out of here."

"I've been waiting for you to say that. Do you think you can get dressed on your own?"

I nodded. He handed me a bag of clothes. Everything ached, but it was better to feel pain everywhere than the nothingness of death. Every sensation was a reminder that I was still alive. On borrowed time. I had a mission to complete.

"Luna, you do know that Thor's dead, right?" Phillip said from just outside my room.

"What? That's not possible."

"He and Heath were hit by a self-driving car."

I paused. "And Alex?"

"I don't know where he is. Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said. "I'm all right."

I pushed down the sobs that wanted so desperately to come out. Pushed them down deep where they could hide safely until the time was right. Now wouldn't do. Tears would have to wait.

"So is it all over now that Thor's dead?"

"I think his death is rather convenient," said Phillip. "Plus, that saline solution mix-up earlier? If Thor was the mastermind behind it all, then his death certainly hasn't stopped Ancien."

"You mean Gaia killed Thor?"

"I have to assume so."

"Who's taken over?"

"Doug Kensington."

"I remember him. He's on the board. He's the one who nominated Thor in the first place. Do you think he's involved with all this?"

"While you were asleep, I looked into his past. He was involved in some questionable situations with his old company. Rumored to be terrorist-related. Did you know that?"

"No, he automatically got a board seat when he bought out KPCB's shares."

"You didn't do a criminal background check?"

"Of course we did. His record was clean. No convictions."

"Well, if he's not involved, I would be surprised," said Phillip.

"Let's talk to him first. We need to find out, one way or the other. Can you get me a wheelchair?"

Phillip wheeled me out of the room. I kept my head down, and Phillip moved quickly. Nobody noticed. Or if they did, they didn't say anything. A few minutes later, we were outside where the air was cool and damp. A storm was brewing.