Hero moved through the open hatch.

He crawled onto the Freeman base's rooftop before standing. The Exchanger pulled his laser pistol from his pocket, but he didn't spot a Freeman.

"There aren't any Freemans up here, Zoey!" Hero said. "You can come up."

Zoey All finished climbing the ladder. She stepped onto the rooftop. The hatch Hero had opened remained in the roof's center, and wind rippled his blond hair.

He wore his blue jacket, and Zoey wore her purple one. They donned jackets, but only one of them wore a Soynite pendant. Zoey didn't have one. But she had helped Hero, and she would always be a Soynite.

Hero took a deep breath before smiling. "No Freemans."

"What are we going to do up here?" Zoey said.

A Freeman had shot Wade, who had tried killing Zoey. But the pale warrior would've shot her if he had been given the chance. The Freemans weren't friends with Hero. Neither were they friends with Zoey, his new ally.

Freemans infested the building underneath Hero's shoes, not his spaceship. After taking Zoey there, he could help his brothers and sisters kidnap a Pure. When they took one, they would have to take nine more.

The Exchangers would reunite with their father. Zoey would see her mother again, and she would find Boone.

"We have to get to my home," Hero said. "You're going to see the fastest Soynite spaceship in the universe. And you don't have to worry, because I'm not going to drop you."

Hero and Zoey stood beneath the blue sky, underneath its vastness, not airborne. He could change that. And he would.

After putting his gun in his pocket, Hero approached Zoey, and picked her up.

He flew away from the roof.

"You can fly," Zoey said as Hero held her.

He could fly to the area where he had parked his spaceship. His siblings might return home and try murdering Zoey, but Hero would protect her. He wouldn't use his gun to defend her from the other Exchangers. Words could win conflicts.

"I'm going to take you to my spaceship," Hero said, as Zoey clinged to him. "Until you reunite with your mother, you're with us. You're with me and my brothers and sisters."

Like Theo Majestic's wife, Hero knew what it was like to be a sibling. He assumed his brothers and sisters hadn't left the Freeman base.

He carried Zoey, and having her so close to his body like this almost made him smile. He flew above trees as wind roared in his ears.

After landing in the field where he had parked his spaceship, Hero let Zoey's shoes touch the grass.

"That was great," she said.

"I'm never going to fly with Boris Endman, but at least I was able to fly us to safety," Hero said.

Zoey rubbed his arm through his sleeve. She said, "Do you fly every girl to safety?"

"Just the wonderful ones."

Had someone on the ground seen Hero flying?

His spaceship crushed grass with its weight. He had boarded it for the first time eleven years ago, and Zoey hadn't been with him when it happened. She stood near the Exchanger. His siblings didn't.

He placed a hand on Zoey's shoulder.

"That's my home over there," he said. "For now, it's your home, too."

Zoey smiled and put her arms around Hero. He hugged her back. His heart pounded, as if it wanted to break free and embrace her. They stopped hugging. The embrace had ended too soon.

"Thank you, Hero," Zoey said.

"You're welcome," Hero said. "My brothers and sisters aren't going to hurt you. I won't let them. Also, Sydney might treat you well. I'm her favorite. I trust you, and she will probably do the same."

If Zoey learned why Hero and his siblings had traveled to the Freeman base, and if she learned about Heaven, it would put her and the Exchangers in danger.

But Hero's friend didn't have to learn about Heaven.

He gestured for Zoey to follow him. They moved toward the spaceship, and the sun's glorious light shone against it.

"What's the name of your mother's best friend?" Hero asked.

A gust swayed tree branches and grass. The spaceship maintained its sturdiness, tough enough to handle wind.

"Crammer Cole," Zoey said. "But I like my stepfather a lot better. I love Boone. Still, I don't want Crammer to die. I don't want a laser to take him away from me."

"And I don't want any of my siblings to take you away from me," Hero said.

"None of them will."

Hero kept a High's stepsister company, but he couldn't be with his father. The Exchanger and Zoey loved people who weren't related to them.

As they walked, Hero's hand brushed against Zoey's warm one. He fought the urge to hold it.

"Lovely's Watcher is a woman named Marina Tome," Zoey said. "That's what Boone said, but Marina probably isn't her name anymore."

"My last name used to be Haysen," Hero said. "Mitch Shame became my father, then I changed my last name to his. His other adopted children did the same."

"When is your birthday?" Zoey said. "Mine is January first."

Hero smirked. "So is mine."

They reached the spot near the spaceship's door. Hero opened it. He gestured for Zoey to enter their home, which she did.

He led her to his bedroom. Four blue walls. A big bed. A photograph. Two teenage Soynites.

Zoey glanced around. She walked closer to a wall before touching the photograph taped to it.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"My father," Hero said. "Mitch Shame."

He stepped to the spot next to Zoey, then moved his hand. She flinched before moving away from him.

"What's wrong?" Hero said. Zoey put a hand on her cheek while staring at his hand. He glanced at it. It didn't bleed. "It's okay. I'm fine."

Zoey stared.

Hero furrowed his brow. "Are you okay, Zoey? You look scared."

"Tell me that Sydney is going to come back with my mother's invisibility bracelet," Zoey said. "Please."

"She's going to," Hero said. "I saw her trying to get it. She was so close to it, too. I'm sure that my sister has your mother's invisibility bracelet."

Zoey pulled her Soynite pistol from her pocket, and she placed it on the wooden dresser. She had used the weapon to save Hero. Saving Zoey might come with difficulty, but it would be worth it.

Maybe Lovely Windsore would reward Hero for helping her stepsister. She might be a fair ruler who deserved a great crown and a tall throne.

Zoey gestured to the bed.

"Can I sit down?" she asked.

"Sure," Hero said. Zoey sat on his bed, then rubbed her arms. "Did you think that I was going to hit you? We're friends, and I've been helping you. I'm not a threat."

Zoey looked at the floor.

Hero could've shot her in the head when they stood on the Freeman base's roof, but he hadn't. He wouldn't kill her, but his brothers and sisters might try to.

"I'm going to talk to my siblings," Hero said. "Wade tried to kill you when that fight was going on in the Freeman base, but he isn't going to stop me from protecting you. I'm not like him."

Hero stepped toward Zoey.

"I wasn't going to hit you," he said. "I was just trying to touch the photograph of my father."

What did Zoey's mother look like?

"Do you have a picture of your mother?" Hero said. Zoey nodded. "Can I see it?"

Zoey moved a hand into her pocket, then pulled a photograph from it. She handed him the picture. It showed a grinning woman, and she had brown hair and brown eyes.

Misty Windsore.

"This home is your home," Hero said. He gave Zoey the photograph. "You live with me and my family now. But I need to leave you here. I have to go back into the Freeman base. I'm going to reunite with Wade and the others, then we're going to come back here."

Hero would reunite with his siblings, and they might take a Pure, then they would go back to the spaceship.

"And if you see one of my siblings while I'm not around, hide," he said. "Only trust me. I don't want any of my brothers and sisters to hurt you."

Wade had proved he would rather kill Zoey than spare her life.

"Just make sure one of you comes back with my mother's invisibility bracelet," she said. She made eye contact with him. "Please, Hero. Please."

"I'm going to make sure you get it back," Hero said. "Don't worry. We're going to bring back your mother's invisibility bracelet, and everything is going to be fine."

"Stay with me. For a little bit longer, at least."

Hero couldn't be in a room with his father, and he hadn't brought Misty's invisibility bracelet back to Zoey. But he could afford to spend more time with the girl.

"Okay," he said. "I can do that."

Zoey smiled. "You're a good friend. Thank you."

Hero had lifted Zoey off the roof, and he had flown through the air while carrying her. He had been a good friend by not dropping her. They had gotten away from the Freeman warriors and their base, but maybe Hero's siblings hadn't.

If his brothers and sisters had left the gray building, they might go back to their home, which Hero and Zoey remained in. The other Exchangers wouldn't try murdering him.

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"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," Hero said, speaking to a girl who would never be him. "If my brothers and sisters try to hurt you, I won't let them. I won't kill them. But I will stop them. I want you to see your mother again, and that won't happen if you get killed. I don't want my new friend to die."

"I don't want you to die, either," Zoey said. She put her hands on her knees. "And your siblings aren't going to kill me. When the Freemans were attacking our planet, I survived. I lived through the Invasion. I will survive your brothers and sisters, too. And you're going to help me do that. I know you will. You're good. If you were really a bad person, you would've dropped me when we were in the air. But you didn't."

While flying, Hero had carried Zoey. He would've grimaced if he had dropped her. They had chosen to become friends when they were inside the Freeman base, a building Hero would have to go back into.

Letting Zoey die would be horrible. The Exchanger would defend her from anyone who might try murdering her.

"No, I didn't," Hero said. "And I didn't want to drop you. The Freemans deserve to die. You don't, though. Neither does Wade. And the rest of my siblings don't deserve to die. I'm going to figure out a way to make everyone live, including you. I'm glad I didn't accidentally drop you while we were in the air. I have to help you."

While Freemans attacked the Ascend Museum, Hero's father had helped him. The man had kept the boy alive for years. Mitch had gone missing, and Hero had met a girl who didn't know her father. She had a mother she wanted to reunite with. Hero had siblings who wanted to murder the girl.

"I don't have to just help you for you, but I have to do it for your mother, too," he said. "I don't want her to lose her daughter. And I don't want her husband to lose his stepdaughter."

If Zoey died, she would never reunite with Misty or Boone, and she would never meet Lovely Windsore, a High Hero had never seen. He hadn't met her. Maybe he would.

The girl sitting on Hero's bed had a High as a stepsister, and he had a brother who had tried shooting Zoey. Thanks to a Freeman, Wade had failed to make another attempt to kill her. She had befriended Hero. Friends had to protect each other.

The Freeman who had shot Wade couldn't keep Zoey safe. That responsibility had become Hero's.

"Whatever happens, I'm going to do what I can to help you," Hero said. "After all, that's what I have to do. We're friends. I'm glad we met, but I'm disappointed that some of my siblings weren't very nice to you. How Wade and the others feel about you isn't going to last, though. They are going to like you."

"After they try to kill me, you mean," Zoey said.

"They won't succeed."

Zoey drummed her fingers against the comforter on the bed.

"I want to succeed in meeting Lovely," she said. "I just know that she's good and kind. She is a reasonable ruler who deserves to be treated well. I know it. She has to be. Theo Majestic made her into a High, and I have to serve her. Even if she wasn't a High, I would want to help her. Me and her are sisters."

"I'm sure that Lovely is everything you want her to be," Hero said. "Compassionate. Good. Fair. You're going to see her, and she will see you. That's how it has to be. Sisters should be together. Family should be together. One day my own family is going to be complete again, because my father will be with us. He's gone. He was captured by Freemans, but he still has people who care about him. He still has his children."

Hero. Wade. Everett. Macy. Kat. Sydney. Six Shame Children. One of them had chosen to move away from his siblings, and another had tried murdering his blond brother's friend.

When Hero reached the Freeman base's rooftop, an Exchanger hadn't confronted him. But one might. Hero's brothers and sisters might try to kill Zoey, but she had come under his protection.

"You have to see your mother and other people," Hero said. "I have to see my father, and I also have to confront my brothers and sisters. Wade and Macy are obviously eager to kill you. I'm not, though. I'm going to save you."

"Hero!" Sydney said.

The youngest Exchanger stood in the doorway. She wore a zipped jacket that had come from the Ascend Museum, which she had worn when Hero saw her inside the Freeman base. Light covered her long blonde hair. She didn't bleed. No wounds.

When Sydney was a baby, she had consumed raze milk. A raze was a plant native to Soy, and Soynites had mass-produced raze milk. Newborn babies could drink it. Anyone could. Sydney's mother had died, and the woman had stopped being able to breastfeed her daughter. Mitch had fed baby Sydney raze milk. Raze milk couldn't spoil. Soynite food and drinks couldn't expire. Neither could Soynite breast milk.

Sydney Shame entered the room.

She and Hero took off their backpacks before setting them on the floor. She headed toward Hero, moving with fast steps. The two Exchangers hugged when they were close enough.

"I saw you flying while you carried Zoey," Sydney said. "I was invisible. I was already outside, because I planned on coming back here. I saw you and Zoey, and I wanted to help."

Why couldn't Wade and Macy be more like Sydney?

The hug ended.

"Zoey saved me," Hero said. "Back in the Freeman base, a Freeman was going to kill me, but Zoey stopped him. She saved my life."

Sydney started moving her hand into her pocket, then turned invisible. When she was visible again, she watched as an invisibility bracelet dropped toward the bed.

"Here," she said.

"My mother's invisibility bracelet!" Zoey said. She smiled. "Thank you, Sydney."

She stood, and hugged Sydney. The younger girl hugged her back. Hero smiled, as if Zoey had given him a hug.

"You're welcome," Sydney said, embracing Zoey.

"Good, Sydney," Hero told his sister. "You trust whoever I trust."

He hugged Zoey and Sydney at the same time. He had taken flight while holding Zoey, and he had carried Sydney when she was a baby. He had carried the girls, and he would treat a threat to either of them like a threat to himself.

"Hero," a voice said. Macy. The group hug died. "Sydney. Step away from her. And if anyone grabs that invisibility bracelet, I will make Zoey even more miserable than I intend to."

Macy slipped into the room, Everett and Kat accompanying her. They wielded Freeman daggers.

Zoey moved to the spot behind Hero. She put her slim arms around his waist, as if they were lovers. Wade had shot and killed Freemans, and he had tried to do the same to Zoey. When she ran near Hero in a hall within the gray building, Wade had tried shooting her. His brother hadn't been his target.

The Exchangers holding daggers planned on doing what Wade had failed to do.

"She's holding me," Hero said. "No one is trying to grab the invisibility bracelet. Are you happy now, Macy?"

Macy didn't smile. She wielded a Freeman dagger, but she might not use it to kill Zoey. Hero's sister wanted to use it on his friend. But he would rather help Zoey survive, not help his siblings murder her.

"Where's Wade?" Sydney asked.

"Be quiet!" Macy said. She glared at Hero. "Hero, you know that we can't let her live."

What gave Macy the right to pick who deserved to die and who deserved to live? The girl standing behind Hero had saved his life inside a lounge room, and he could save hers. He could protect her from his armed siblings.

Hero clenched his fists. Macy, Everett, and Kat gripped red daggers, weapons that could tear into flesh. These three Exchangers acted like they would die if Zoey didn't lose her life soon.

Hero didn't step aside. He remained in front of the girl he had carried in the air outside the blue spaceship, and Sydney stood beside him.

"Macy, listen to me," Hero said. "Right now, you're making me consider doing something I'll regret later. I'm not going to let you kill Zoey. She saved my life. Until she reunites with her mother, she's one of us. This spaceship is her home now. If you kill her, I will never forgive you. If any of you kill her, I won't forgive you. You are all my brothers and sisters, but what I just said is the truth."

Macy glared.

Hero's father Mitch had raised him, Macy, Wade, Everett, Kat, and Sydney. Mitch couldn't defend Zoey.

Wade hadn't gone into Hero's bedroom. He might be fighting Freemans inside their base, struggling to survive. Or maybe the Freemans struggled to survive against him. He couldn't help Macy, Everett, and Kat kill Zoey. Hero had spoken with her inside the Freeman base. He had helped her survive in that place where Wade had tried shooting her. She and Hero had become allies.

Friends.

Zoey hadn't met her stepsister. But she had met her mother, Misty. They had gotten separated. Zoey had followed the Exchangers outside, and two of them tried protecting her. If Hero's father were in the room, he would attempt to defend her.

"Zoey got separated from her mother," Hero said.

Macy scoffed. "And?"

"Her stepfather is missing. You know exactly what it's like to lose your parents. All three of you know what that's like. If you kill Zoey, I will be angry with you forever. And if any of you become as horrible as Bane Sinister, I will be grateful if I never saw you again."

"If she stays with us, we might never see our father again!" Macy said. Hero's fists shook. "You can't find Father if you're dead. And we can't find him if we die. You know what has to happen, Hero. Stop acting like you don't know what we have to do. Someone has to die, and you know who I'm referring to."

Death had taken Hero's first father, and it had taken his mother. Zoey hadn't died. As long as she lived, she could reunite with her mother. But if Macy stabbed Zoey in the heart and let her die, she would never see Misty again. If Hero's sister killed the girl, she would never reunite with Boone, or meet Lovely.

"Please, Macy!" Sydney said. "Just stop. Don't kill Zoey. She saved Hero."

"Sydney is right," Zoey said. "I saved him. And I know a Bloodhound. You want to find your father, and my friend Crammer could make that happen. If you kill me, he will never help you."

"Unfortunately for you, we don't need your Bloodhound," Macy said. "Crammer isn't the only Bloodhound in the universe. There are other ones. Some Bloodhounds are needed, and some aren't. Some people need to live, and others have to die. Don't you agree, Hero?"

Lock Tannis's minions had constructed the building not far from this spaceship, and they weren't Exchangers. The Freemans had lost their right to live. Hero and his siblings hadn't. Zoey hadn't.

"I just want everyone in this room to live, Macy," Hero said.

Macy shook her head.

"You're not going to get your wish," she said. "I have a father I want to see again, and so do you. So does Sydney. And Everett. And Kat. And Wade. You're going to ruin everything. I really thought that you were ready to save Father, but I was wrong."

Everett and Kat flanked Macy, as if they were her bodyguards. Three daggers pointed at the blue floor. The blades hadn't slipped into Zoey's body, and Hero could prevent that from happening. He could save Zoey from his three siblings. Afterward, he could find a Pure.

Ten Pures was the price for Mitch's freedom, but what did Hero have to do to convince Macy not to kill Zoey?

"You have no idea what I'm ready to do," Hero said. "I am ready to save Father. But I'm also ready to save Zoey. You're holding a Freeman dagger. You'll be able to use it on the Freemans later, but I'm not going to let you use it on Zoey. Save your daggers for Lock's warriors. You don't have to use them right now."

"We want to, and we need to," Macy said.

"You don't have to do this. You're a girl who wants to kill your own brother's friend."

"That's exactly what I am. I will always choose Father over Zoey, but you're not me. You're not like Everett, Kat, or Wade. We're not defending a girl who shouldn't be defended. Stop protecting her."

"No."

"Let Zoey live!" Sydney said. "Then we can go find Wade. He's still at the Freeman base, right? He probably needs our help."

"We can't risk keeping that girl alive," Everett said. "She needs to die."

He didn't drop his weapon, and his sisters didn't drop theirs.

"No one needs to die!" Hero said. "Everett, you're just as foolish as Macy. The two of you don't have to do this. You don't have to do this either, Kat. All of you think that Zoey has to die, but that's not true. I know it's not true. You don't have to kill her. She saved me. She really did, and I don't want her to die. Even before she saved my life, I didn't want her to die."

Macy glanced at her dagger. "That was obvious when you ran away with her."

Zoey moved her arms away from Hero's waist.

"Yes, he did run away with me," she said. "And I saved his life after that. Because of me, your brother is still alive. If I hadn't saved Hero, you wouldn't be able to talk to him right now. None of you would be able to. He's here. He's breathing. He's alive because of the girl you want to kill."

"You're a girl I need to kill," Macy said. "You may have Hero and Sydney's support, but you don't have mine. If that Freeman hadn't shot Wade, he probably would've killed you. I wish that he had."

"It's great that he didn't," Hero said.

"Stop talking!"

"No, Macy," Hero said. He scowled, as if his sister had tried stabbing Zoey. "You need to stop talking. I carried Zoey in my arms. I brought her to safety. If you want to kill her, then you're going to have to kill me. Because I won't accept it if you murder her. If you lose my love for you, you will lose so much."

Macy narrowed her eyes. She and Hero were blond-haired and blue-eyed, and they shared a home. Yet she wanted to kill a girl he wanted to protect.

"I feel the same way Hero feels," Sydney said.

"Hero, are you really willing to die for a girl you barely know?" Macy asked.

"I'm willing to live," Hero said. "I'm going to live, then I'm going to find Father. I will figure out a way for everyone to survive, including Zoey. I will."

Macy shook her head.

"You're a fool," she said. "And this bond that you have with that girl isn't going to last. She is going to hate you. When she does, you'll have to find a different girl to protect."

"You know that's not true," Hero said. "You just want it to be."

"Today you showed us what you're capable of. You would rather help a girl than help your siblings. You left us in that Freeman base. In the future, you're going to abandon your family to defend other people, people who don't deserve to be defended. You're going to leave us again. You've already proved that you're good at it."

Zoey wrapped her arms around Hero's waist. She said, "She's trying to make you angry, Hero."

Hero glared.

"Stop trying to torment me, Macy," he said. "You already know that I'm never going to abandon our family. I never will. You can't see the future. You don't know what I'm going to do, so stop acting like you do."

Everett put a hand on Macy's shoulder. "Macy, we have to go back to the Freeman base. We also have to find Wade."

"You're right," Macy said. "Let's get out of here."

She scowled at Hero before leaving the room with Everett and Kat. Sydney lifted her backpack off the floor, then put it on. She left the bedroom.

Zoey moved her arms away from Hero's waist. She had stood behind him, and he had protected her.

Wade might be inside the Freeman base. Macy, Everett, Kat, and Sydney would leave the spaceship and return to the gray building. So would Hero. They might come back home with an unconscious Pure.

"I'm coming!" Hero shouted. "Just let me speak to Zoey first."

"You defended me," Zoey said.

"I did," Hero said. He faced her. "Stay in this room. If you have to use the bathroom, go to one of them. Me and my siblings are going to go back to the Freeman base. When you hear us, close your eyes. Don't look out any windows. I'm not going to tell you why you can't come with us, but you have to know that it's for the best. Wear your mother's invisibility bracelet."

Zoey hugged Hero. He had taken off his backpack before hugging Sydney. It sat on the floor, and Vamp-filled syringes rested within it. Lock had invented Vamp, and Hero would bring the purple liquid into the Freeman base. He might force some into a Pure's bloodstream.

Misty's invisibility bracelet sat on the bed. Zoey had used it to follow the Exchangers without them seeing her. After revealing herself to them, Wade had almost killed her. Hero hadn't wanted her to die back then, and he didn't want her to die now. He could protect Zoey, who acted like Misty would hurt her if she failed to return the invisibility bracelet to her.

"And you defended me," Hero said. "Everything is going to be fine, Zoey. Right now, I have to go, though. There's a Freeman base that I need to be inside."

The hug ended.

There was a chance Hero's father had died. But if he and the other Exchangers didn't take ten Pures to Heaven, they would never find their father's living body, or his lifeless corpse.

Hero put on his backpack.

"Be careful," Zoey told him.

"The Freemans are going to have to be." Hero said.