The Freemans needed to be careful.

Hero, Macy, Everett, Kat, and Sydney ran within the enemy base. The Exchangers rushed in a long hall. They didn't see any Freemans.

Where were Lock Tannis's warriors?

The Exchangers had heard a spaceship during the trip back to the gray building, but they hadn't seen it. Earlier, Hero had learned Freemans from the base a Soynite girl had attacked were on the way to this one. She might be in the spaceship Hero and his siblings had heard.

In the spacecraft the Exchangers lived inside, Hero had convinced Macy, Everett, and Kat to let Zoey live. They hadn't murdered her. That meant she and Hero could hug later. They could keep each other safe, like they had done earlier.

The Exchangers moved, their shoes striking the hard floor as they ran. Freemans didn't pursue them. But Hero and his siblings might soon encounter Lock's pale supporters.

"Wait!" Kat said. "We have to stop running."

The Exchangers stopped running. Macy furrowed her brow.

"What is it, Kat?" she said. "This better be urgent."

"I have to talk to Hero," Kat replied.

She looked at Hero. Her brown eyes had aimed at Zoey when Kat wanted her to die. Another brown-eyed Exchanger had tried using his gun to kill Zoey, but he had failed. Yet he had succeeded in separating from his brothers and sisters. Hero didn't see Wade. But if the black-haired Exchanger saw Zoey, Hero might have to defend her from him.

Kat put a hand on Hero's arm, frowning.

"Hero," she said. "I'm scared. That girl is still alive. You know, that new friend of yours. You didn't kill her."

Hero's new friend had a name. He almost glared at Kat, who had treated Zoey like a person who deserved to die.

"Her name is Zoey," Hero said. "Remember that name, because you're going to see more of her. I won't let any of you kill her."

Hero looked at Macy, and she didn't avert her gaze. She had seen Zoey. She had wanted to murder Hero's friend, someone who had defended him when Macy couldn't. No Exchanger had saved Hero from that Freeman in that lounge room. Zoey had come to his rescue. He would rather protect the girl than let Macy kill her.

After going back to his home, Hero would see Zoey. One day she might look at Lovely, and that High would look at her.

"If Zoey learns too much, she's going to get us killed," Kat said. "Do you want all of us to die?"

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Hero shook his head.

"Do you want me to die?" Kat asked.

Hero had seen his birth parents for the last time inside the Ascend Museum, but Mitch Shame had adopted him, and Kat had become his sister. His mother no longer lived. But Kat did. Hero wanted to protect her, and he wanted Zoey to live.

"You're my sister," Hero said. He set his gun and backpack on the floor, then he caressed Kat's cheek. "I love you more than anything on Soy, but I need to help Zoey. She's my friend."

"But—"

Hero embraced Kat. She dropped her gun before hugging him back.

"I love you," he said. "But Zoey is with us now, and Heaven's people won't kill her. I won't let them."

The hug ended. Macy, Everett, and Sydney stood nearby. They waited. Their father might be in a prison cell within a Freeman base, waiting for his children to rescue him. Hero could try preventing Heaven's people from doing what some of Mitch's children had wanted to do.

Macy, Everett, and Kat had planned on murdering Zoey. She was clever, but Freeman daggers could kill clever girls. So could laser beams. Wade had known that when he attempted to shoot Zoey in the head. Yet he hadn't succeeded in ending her life. She hadn't died inside the Freeman base, and she hadn't lost her life in the Exchangers' home.

Zoey lived. Hero could help keep her alive, and she could reunite with her mother. A High's stepmother had gotten separated from her biological daughter. But they would see each other again.

Hero had seen his sisters for the first time a long time ago. One day Kat and Sydney might have boyfriends, and Hero doubted Macy would.

"I love you, too," Kat said. "And I hope that we didn't make a big mistake when we decided to let Zoey live. I want to see Father, Hero. I want to hug him, and I want him to hug me back. I can't do that if I get killed by Heaven's people. Keeping Zoey alive might get me killed. It might get us killed."

"No one is going to kill us, Kat," Hero said. "I need you to know that, and I need you to believe it. I stopped you, Macy, and Everett from killing Zoey. And I protected her from Wade. I had to keep her safe, and I still have to. You know that, right? Zoey wants to find her mother, and we want to find our father. Zoey is just like us. We need to defend her."

"If she finds out about Heaven because of us, we will be in so much trouble," Kat said. "I hope you don't forget that."

"I won't. I'm going to do everything I can to prevent Zoey from learning about Heaven and its people. And if she does find out about them, I'll come up with a plan. Don't worry. I'm older than you, Macy, and the others. It's my responsibility to keep all of you safe. And I will. I'm going to protect my brothers and sisters, and I'm going to protect Zoey, too."

Hero had never tried to murder Zoey. He wasn't his brother Wade. A Freeman had shot him. But he had been alive the last time Hero had seen him, and there was a chance the black-haired Exchanger still wanted to end Zoey's life.

If Wade made another attempt to shoot the girl in the head, Hero wouldn't kill him to save Zoey.

Hero had known Wade for a much longer time than he had known Zoey. If he murdered his younger brother, that would be awful. Hero had chosen to help Zoey survive her encounter with Wade. But the blond Exchanger would never kill the black-haired one.

It was possible Wade would succeed in murdering Zoey later, like it was possible for Alice Endman to become a High in the future.

"We're going to see Wade again," Hero said. "And we can't let him kill Zoey. He tried to shoot her earlier, and we can't let that happen again. Wade needs to live, but so does Zoey. I want her to find her mother. And I want Wade to be with us when we find Father. We can't let Wade or Zoey get killed."

Hero didn't see Zoey, a girl beyond this Freeman base's gray walls. He couldn't speak with her. She couldn't talk to him, her mother, or her stepsister.

"Zoey," Kat said. "I wanted to kill her. Me, Macy, and Everett wanted to. But you didn't let us. And back when we were all in that hall, you saved her from Wade. Do you think that you'll be able to do that a second time?"

"I know that I'll be able to." Hero said.