MARCH 3, 2022

Zoey sat on the bed in her new room, holding a photograph showing Boris Endman holding his granddaughter, Alice, back when she was a baby. Misty had kidnapped her sixteen years ago, and renamed her Zoey All.

She placed the photograph next to her. Her blond savior had given it to her. Being friends with Hero Shame was great, like when she and Hailey had hugged. Zoey could protect Theo Majestic's daughter.

And she could defend Lena Fly.

Betty didn't call her Lovely anymore, but she was still Boone Windsore's daughter. Zoey had been separated from her for years. Today they had met. Zoey had seen Lena, but her sister hadn't looked at her. She couldn't look at anyone.

In the space station's cafeteria, Lena had tried murdering Hailey.

Zoey would rather speak to Hailey than stab her. Her parents, Theo and Lilly, used to hold Zoey when she was a baby. They had been good to her. So had Hailey. She didn't deserve to get killed by any Highs, and Zoey could help her survive long enough to see her parents and siblings again.

Betty had tried convincing Hailey to leave the space station, back when she had never met Lena. Hailey hadn't done what Betty had wanted her to do. Instead of leaving the space station, the new arrival had stayed. Lena had hurt her. Theo would be furious if he learned what she had done to his daughter. So would Lilly.

"Zoey?" Lena said. "Are you in here?"

High Lena stood outside the bedroom, holding her white cane. She wore her round, dark sunglasses. She had long orange hair and pale gray eyes that wandered. When she was born, they had been green. The incident on Still had left her blind and Saveless. Like Zoey, Hailey, and Betty, Lena didn't wear makeup. She didn't need it to be beautiful. Neither did the others in the home.

When Zoey and Hero met, she hadn't been wearing makeup. Nor had she been wearing any when she kissed him for the first time.

"Yes," Zoey said. "And I'm sitting on the bed."

Lena entered the room. "I'm glad Betty brought you here. It would be even better if Father was here, too, though."

"Yes, it would be."

Zoey's biological father had stopped being a secret to her. Archer Endman had gotten Holly pregnant, and Zoey had been born months after that. She couldn't speak with either of them.

Nobody could speak with Boris.

"I'm glad Misty isn't here," Lena said. "Why did our father have to marry that horrible woman? She didn't just take you away from your real mother. She also abused you."

Earlier, Zoey had told Lena and Hailey the truth. They knew she was Boris's granddaughter. For too long, she hadn't known that. She had learned who she was. Yet her paternal grandfather was as dead as Hailey's, who had died as a king. Hailey could heal wounds. With Zoey's help, she could live long enough to develop more than one Save.

Zoey's mother had lived long enough to abduct her, and she still lived.

"I know," Zoey told Lena. "But Misty is still my mother. And she's not with me right now, but she will be. She's going to find me. She has Crammer."

Lena sat beside Zoey on the bed. "Hailey has a Bloodhound friend, too. Remember? Maybe she will lead you to your parents."

Vera Mod had spent years raising Hailey, but she refused to find Theo. Someday she might lead Zoey to Archer and Holly's home, but the thought of meeting them soon made her want to frown. She would rather stay away from the Endmans and her mother. For now.

"One day she will, hopefully," Zoey said. "But I don't want to meet them right now. I'm not ready to. I want to stay here for a while."

"That's fine," Lena said. "And while you're here, maybe Father will find this space station. Vera isn't going to be willing to find him for us. She didn't even bother to look for Theo Majestic, and she still doesn't want to find him. I hurt Hailey. And I also tried to kill her. She might tell Vera how I treated her. If I command that Bloodhound to find Father, she will refuse to."

"Even if that happens, we're still going to find him."

Lena nodded. "I know. A Bloodhound will take us to him, or maybe he will come here."

"There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" Lena asked.

"What does being a High feel like?" Zoey said.

"It feels great. It would be even better if it was guaranteed our people would obey me. I'm a High, but there are Soynites who act like I'm not their leader. Lock Tannis is one of them. So are the former Highs who joined him."

Boris had joined Lock. At some point, he had died. It could have happened years ago, or it could have happened yesterday, back when Zoey didn't know she was his granddaughter.

Lena put a pale hand on the bed. "At least Betty isn't like them. After I hurt Hailey for the first time, Betty didn't even try to get her away from me. And after I tried killing Hailey, Betty didn't scold me for it. Because she knows I'm her High. I have absolute power over her. She will do anything I want her to do."

Holding her cane in one hand, Lena clenched her fist.

"But I will never forget what she did to me, back when we were on Still," she said. "I can't see, and it's all her fault. I can't even use my Saves anymore. That's her fault, too. And I'm still like this because Hailey doesn't know where the Soy Maker is. And that's because her horrible father hid it. I wish I knew why the Majestic family is the worst Soynite family there is. It's already bad enough that only one of them can serve me, and that one didn't come here with the Soy Maker."

"If she knew where the Soy Maker was, she would get it for you," Zoey said. She put a hand on Lena's knee. "I would get it for you, too, if I could."

"I know."

Hailey Majestic arrived outside the bedroom's open door. Freemans had left their spaceship in the space station's hangar, and Hailey had saved Lena from them. Zoey, Hailey, and Betty had taken supplies from the spaceship, then Betty had gotten rid of it.

Blind and Saveless, Lena had slain one of the Freemans. If one of her enemies underestimated her in the future, he or she might regret it.

Hailey stood outside the bedroom. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Zoey said.

Hailey stepped into the room. She wore a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and shoes. They were all blue. She donned her pendant. Like Theo and Lilly, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. The thin thirteen-year-old girl had saved Lena's life. Hailey stood at a height of five foot one inch, three inches shorter than Zoey, Lena, and Betty. Hailey was shorter than them. Yet she had killed seven-foot tall Freeman warriors.

Over a decade ago, a woman Summer Locket had kidnapped her only younger sibling, Anne. Zoey knew what it was like to be raised by her abductor. Maybe Anne knew it, too.

Hailey's sister Reese Low ruled Soy with Lena and other children. One of them was Don Ascend's daughter.

Kara.

Even before finding this space station and its residents, Hailey had known Kara's Watcher's Soynite name. She had never met Victor Valley, though. Before Soy's invasion, he had never seen Theo.

"Hailey," Lena said. "Tomorrow I want you to take a picture of Zoey for me. I have one of my father on my wall, but I don't have a picture of Zoey on it. I want one, though. Tomorrow you're going to take a picture of her."

"Okay, my High," Hailey said.

"Good. And I haven't forgotten that you didn't let me beat you earlier. And if you hadn't healed me when we were in the cafeteria, I would've killed you. Or I would've made Betty do it."

Zoey frowned, as if she had seen Lena punch Hailey.

"After all, you did hurt me," Lena said. "Anyone who hurts a High deserves to die."

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Hailey told Lena. "And I'm never going to do it again."

"You've hurt me before. I don't want to kill you, Hailey. I also didn't want Still to ruin my life, but that's what ended up happening. Do you understand what I'm implying?"

"Yes, my High."

Lena stood. "I will kill any Soynite who hurts me. Or if I don't kill them, I'll make someone else do it. You were fortunate when I decided to let you live, but any Soynite who hurts me in the future won't get a second chance. I want you to kneel. Kneel for your High."

Hailey moved onto her knees, then bowed her head.

Zoey hadn't forgotten her sister couldn't see. "She's kneeling, Lena."

Lena smiled.

"She better be," she said. "Hailey, tell me you love me."

"I love you," Hailey said.

Lena grinned. "I love you, too. Even though you're a Majestic, I love you anyway. Rise."

Hailey rose, obeying her ruler. Zoey didn't know if her father, Theo, was alive or dead. That frustrated her as much as her pendant's absence frustrated her. She wasn't a Child of Still. Nor was she Zodiac Angel. When would she wear her pendant again?

"I'm going to be so glad when the rest of your family is kneeling for me," Lena told Hailey. "Reese will do it, too. Because I'm going to be the Supreme High one day. No Soynite will be my equal. And if I ever get my vision back, I will see the most powerful Soynite kneeling for me. Your father knows who I am. He knows I'm his High, and he's going to show me respect. He's going to serve me. He's a horrible fool, but he will still kneel for me. Just like you did. Your mother and your siblings will do that for me, too. Reese and the other Highs will want me to be their leader. They will elect me as the Supreme High. I will be the most important Soynite in the universe, not your sister."

Hailey had a biological sister. Zoey didn't. When her father still lived with her and her mother, he had never gotten her pregnant. And if he had produced a child with her, the baby wouldn't have been Zoey's biological sibling. Misty had never been her birth mother. Yet she had made Zoey believe she had come out of her sixteen years ago.

Zoey's birthday was the first of January. Her mother hadn't lied about that.

"I wish I could see Nova," Hailey said. "I've never met her. I used to see her, but I never got to hug her. We're sisters, and we've never even hugged."

"I know what it's like to spend years not being able to hug your sister," Zoey said. "Today me and her finally hugged, though. You're going to get your wish, Hailey."

"Thanks, Zoey."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"You're welcome."

If Zoey saw Hailey and Reese hug, she might be as happy as she had been when Hero defended her from his siblings in Washington. He had been alive the last time Zoey had seen him, and she could see him again. He and his siblings would reunite with their father. Zoey would be with both of hers. She refused to believe her enemies had killed Boone and Archer.

She used to believe her enemy Lock had been born a Freeman. His original name was Reed Pisces, and he had never belonged to the race of people who supported him. His best friend used to be Theo, who had made him into the second High. But he had taken away Lock's High status, because he had wanted the Freeman race to be destroyed.

Theo and Lock had been friends with Boris, Zoey's grandfather. But that hadn't stopped Lock's Freemans from trying to murder her in the past. She was their leader's enemy. And despite the fact Boris had served Lock, he might have killed Boris. Or maybe a Freeman had.

Betty entered the bedroom. Like Lena, she had pale skin, orange hair, and she had been born with green eyes. Her eyes were still that color. Betty wasn't related to Lena, but she had known her since she was a baby. She had spent eleven years taking care of her. Lena had been blind for ten of them.

"Look at you girls," Betty said. "I'm happy that the three of you are here. Do you want anything, my High? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"I'm fine," Lena said.

"What about you two? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"I'm fine, too," Hailey said. "Thanks for asking, though."

"I'm okay, too," Zoey told Betty.

Betty looked at Lena's cane. "Do you want me to take your cane, Lena?"

Lena nodded.

"Take it," she said.

Betty grabbed the cane, then put it in a corner. She and Hailey remained standing. Zoey and Lena sat on the bed, their socks touching the blue floor. Betty glanced at each of the three girls.

"Lena already knows that I will always keep her safe," she said. "But I'll also protect the two of you, Hailey and Zoey. I hope both of you reunite with your parents. And, Hailey, I hope your family gets put back together. Your parents and your siblings are all away from each other. They're away from you, too. I'm sorry."

"My family won't be like this forever," Hailey said, speaking with confidence, as if she had seen her family together in a vision of the future.

Zoey grabbed the photograph showing her and Boris. He couldn't be with his son, but Zoey would be with him. They wouldn't be separated for another sixteen years.

"My parents know where their home is," Hailey said. "And it's the space station I left. Nick knows where it is, too. My parents and my brother will be there again. Nova and Anne were never there, but they will be. Nova is with Ken. She's his niece, and I'm sure that he's doing everything he can to protect her."

"And Anne is with Summer Locket," Betty said. "She was kidnapped by her own Watcher. If she hadn't done that, your younger sister would've lived in that space station with you."

"She's going to know what it's like to live there. I really want to see her. I miss her."

Betty smiled at Hailey. "I'm sure you're going to be with her again."

"I'm going to be with Vera again, too," Hailey said. "I have to face her at some point. I know that she misses me. She didn't want me to leave our space station, but I did it anyway. And I don't want to see her right now. I want to see my father, though. I wish I knew where he was. He left, and he never came back. I was a toddler the last time I saw him."

"You're going to see him soon," Betty said. "We both will."

"Your father better be alive, Hailey," Lena said. "I need him to kneel for me, and I also need the Soy Maker. Betty took away my sight and my Saves, and I want them back."

Betty placed a hand on Lena's shoulder. "You're going to see again. And you're going to get your Saves back, too."

Betty hadn't been born as a Pure, but she possessed every Save, which she had gained when she touched that water on Still. The deed had changed her and Lena. If she became worthy to Still, she would get everything it had taken from her. The Soy Maker should be able to cure her, too. But Theo had hidden it, and he hadn't told anyone where he had concealed it.

"I deserve to have them back," Lena said. "And I deserve to have green eyes again."

"I didn't want you to become like this," Betty said. "You've spent so long not being able to see. Even your powers are gone. I know how miserable your condition makes you."

"Miserable?! I am not weak."

Betty took a step back. "I'm sorry, my High. You're right. You're not weak."

"Being miserable is what weaklings do," Lena said. "High Lena isn't a weakling. I killed that Freeman when Soy's invasion was still happening, and I killed another one, earlier, back when you were gone. I protected myself when you weren't here to protect me. I am not weak."

"I made a mistake," Betty said. "Please forgive me, Lena. Please."

Lena clenched her fists, and Zoey placed her hand on one.

Lena unclenched her fists, then stood. "A good ruler knows when to show mercy. I'm not going to hurt you with a strife dagger, Betty. I never want to hurt you. I love you too much. But I am angry at you. Right now, you need to apologize to your High."

"I'm sorry," Betty told Lena.

"Good."

Betty placed a hand on Lena's cheek. "I appreciate you and all of your wisdom. You're not weak. You're the greatest High, and your co-rulers will believe it. Just like I believe it."

Lena sat on the bed. Hailey put a hand on Betty's shoulder, as if doing that might prevent Lena from getting angry at her again today. Hailey knew when to show compassion. Zoey almost smiled.

"Zoey," Lena said. "Hailey. I love my Watcher. I need the two of you to understand that. You can get angry at someone you love. I appreciate Betty. She takes care of me. She's been taking care of me for years, and it's one of the reasons why I will never hurt her. She doesn't deserve to be hurt. The Freemans do, though. They need to die, but Betty doesn't have to."

Betty smiled. "Thank you, Lena."

"And there's someone else who doesn't need to die. And that person is Misty Windsore, that horrible stepmother of mine. Zoey, I will never consider her to be your mother. She kidnapped you. She took you away from your real parents, and she spent years abusing you. You don't deserve to be hurt, but that's what Misty did to you anyway. Even though she did that, I'm not going to kill her, because our father loves her. And you love her. That's the other reason why I won't kill her."

How many enemies had Misty killed to defend Zoey? How many times had she addressed her as Mother? When would Misty caress her cheek again?

"Thank you," Zoey said. "But Misty is still my mother, and she protected me."

Lena scoffed. "But she didn't protect you from herself."

"I know."

Lauren had never slapped Lena. Why couldn't Zoey's mother be as great as Lena's had been?

Zoey looked at the floor, then it blurred in her vision.

Hailey put a hand on Zoey's shoulder. "It's okay."

Betty rubbed Zoey's back.

"You're away from Misty," she said. "You're with me, your sister, and Hailey. We're going to keep being good to you, Zoey. We will never hurt you."

Lena nodded. "Betty is right. You're not with Misty. You're with us, and we won't hurt you. You're my sister. And I don't hurt family."

Zoey wiped away her tears. Hailey and Betty stood close to her, watching her, a girl who loved her kidnapper.

Lena put a hand on Zoey's back.

"It's okay, Zoey," she said. "Misty isn't here. Your kidnapper can't hurt you, and we're going to make sure that she never hurts you again. Also, there's something I'm curious about. Your friend Hero figured out that you were Alice Endman, but you didn't. Why? You're a smart girl. I'm surprised that you didn't realize you were Alice years ago."

Zoey sighed. "I loved my mother, and she loved me. And that's why I didn't consider the possibility that she kidnapped me. We still love each other, by the way. But I know that I have to stay away from her."

"You really do," Lena said. "And if she comes here with Crammer, we're going to deal with them."

"Please, don't kill Crammer. I love him."

"I won't kill him, then. You're too forgiving, Zoey. Do you know that? You want that horrible Bloodhound to live. Even though he was rude to you, you don't want me to kill him. I am a High. And my Watcher is powerful. If Crammer was here, I would be able to kill him."

Zoey shook her head. "I don't want you to kill him."

"For years, he knew that you were Alice Endman," Lena said. "Misty told him the truth the day you and her met him. Instead of telling you who you were, he kept it a secret. Crammer could've taken you to your real parents. But he decided to side with Misty, your kidnapper. Your abuser. And yet you don't want me to kill him."

"No, I don't," Zoey said. "I want Crammer to live. And I want me, you, my mother, and a lot of others to live."

When Zoey used Hero as a Soynite shield inside that Freeman base, she had wanted to live. He couldn't see Hailey, a girl descended from King Hase. Before her birth, there had never been a pair of Majestic sisters. She and Reese had never met. But Zoey might smile if she saw it happen.

After Soy's invasion, Lilly had taken Hailey's only brother with her. Nick Majestic had been born eighteen years ago, and he was older than Hailey, Reese, and Anne. Zoey wished she had a brother.

"I hope your friends are okay, Zoey," Hailey said. "Hero and his siblings, I mean."

Hero had given Zoey protection, a photograph, and her first kiss. She wasn't able to tell him she had met Theo and Lilly's third child. Hero didn't know Zoey had found Lena, either.

"I wish they could see you," Zoey said. She pressed a hand against her pillow. "I wish Hero and his siblings knew that I met one of Theo's children. And if they were here, they would be able to protect you."

Lena nudged Zoey with her elbow. "Don't forget that I need to be protected, too. Plus, I'm more important than Hailey is. Your friends don't just have to protect me, though. They also have to kneel for me. I am a High, and no one in this room is more important than me."

"You're right about that, Lena," Betty said. "And we will protect you. After all, we don't want you to be dead by the time your father gets here. I want him to see this place one day. Our home is wonderful, and your father deserves to be here. He deserves to live here. I miss him. And I know you do, too."

Hailey looked at the floor. "I wish my Watcher would act like she misses my father. Vera thinks that he abandoned us, but she's wrong. He left, but I'm sure he didn't plan on being gone for this long. My father is in trouble. Something bad happened to him, and that's why he hasn't come back home yet."

Betty placed a hand on Hailey's shoulder.

"Wherever he is, it's great that he has a daughter who supports him as much as you do," she said.

Theo and Lilly had made Hailey, but Vera had spent more time taking care of her than her parents had. Vera wasn't a Majestic. She had befriended one a long time ago, though. Yet she refused to find him.

"Thanks, Betty," Hailey said.

"You're welcome," Betty told her. "And your father isn't here, but you are. When our High needed help, I couldn't save her. But you could, and you did. You killed those Freemans. If you hadn't done that, Lena would've died. She's still alive because of you, and she can reunite with her father. Lena and Zoey have been away from him for too long. Zoey has two fathers she needs to see."

"Archer loves me. So does your real mother, Zoey. They love me, Nick, and Anne. And you."

When Zoey's mother slapped her for the first time, Archer and Holly had loved her. They hadn't been able to stop her mother from hurting her. That didn't mean they didn't care about Zoey. She had been a toothless baby when her mother took her away from them. Now Zoey could speak. She had spoken to her mother many times. She had talked to Zodiac Angel, a man she had met inside a Freeman space station. She had told Hero about her father Boone.

Zoey had never told Archer or Holly she loved them.

"I love my kidnapper," she said. "And I don't love my birth parents, but I'm going to. One day."

Crossing her arms, Hailey studied Zoey with her blue eyes.

"Your situation is like Anne's," Hailey said. "She was a baby when Summer took her away from us. She doesn't remember her real parents, which means she doesn't love them. How can you love someone you don't remember?"

Hailey grimaced, as if she had smelled something awful.

"Anne probably loves the woman who shot my father," she said. "She probably loves her kidnapper. Meanwhile, she doesn't love our parents."

Lena shook her head. "Your parents let Summer keep her. What they did is just more proof that they're horrible people. If I had a baby girl who got kidnapped by her Watcher, I would get her back. Your parents didn't just abandon their baby, Hailey. They abandoned you, too. Your mother left. Then your father did the same."

"He's going to be back home. He's in trouble, and I have to help him. And my mother left, but she's not going to be gone forever. She will go back to our space station. I just don't know when that will happen."

"You also don't know if that will happen," Lena said. "Your mother might be dead. How do you know that she isn't? She could've gotten killed by a Freeman years ago. Or maybe a member of the Lock Tannis Church killed her. Or a Child of Still."

"Lilly isn't dead," Zoey said, as if she had seen Lilly a minute ago. "Hailey will be with her mother again. She's going to be with her siblings, too. And she hasn't met Reese before, but she will."

Lena squeezed the comforter. "Why do you have to love those Majestics so much, Zoey? Did Hailey's parents save you from Misty? Did any of her siblings do it?"

"No. But Hailey comforted me, and the Majestics would've saved me if they could have. They just weren't able to."

"There's a lot the Majestics weren't able to do," Lena said. "Theo and Lilly couldn't stop Summer from kidnapping their baby. They couldn't be good parents. And Theo couldn't kill your grandfather, Zoey. Instead of agreeing to have a sword fight with him, he should've used telekinesis to crush his heart. Your father is a fool, Hailey."

Hailey shook her head. "No, he's not."

"Don't argue with me!"

Clenching her fists, Lena breathed as if she finished escaping a Freeman warrior. Hailey left the room.

"Hailey, wait!" Zoey said.

She moved into the hall. Hailey took quick steps, and Zoey followed her.

"Hailey," she said. "Talk to me. Please stop and talk to me."

Lena and Betty remained in Zoey's bedroom. They could talk to each other, but Zoey would speak with Hailey. Her father had created a new government system. He had made his friends into rulers. He had banished Lock from Soy when he wanted the Soynites to destroy the Freemans.

Theo wasn't a fool.

After Zoey and Hailey walked through a few halls, Hailey stopped walking. She faced Zoey. As tears left Hailey's eyes, Zoey stood in front of her. Hailey was shorter than her, but she should grow taller, and she would someday have all the Saves. Today she needed comfort.

"I'm sorry," Zoey said, as she stood in the blue hall. "I'm sorry Lena yelled at you. And I'm sorry that she called your father a fool. I definitely don't think he's one."

Hailey shed tears. "I know."

Seeing Hailey like this was awful, like when Zoey had realized she had lost her mother's invisibility bracelet in that Freeman base. Misplacing it had made her slap her. Zoey hadn't deserved that. If she gained a daughter, she would never hurt her.

"Your grandfather wanted to have a sword fight with my father, and he agreed to," Hailey told Zoey.

She already knew what had happened before Theo's fight with Boris.

"He wasn't able to kill Boris," Hailey said. "And that's why he was able to keep serving Lock Tannis. Because my father had failed to beat him in that duel. Now I wish he had just crushed Boris's heart. If he had done that, Lock would've lost a powerful ally. And Lena wouldn't have yelled at me. When will she realize how great my father is? When will she and Vera stop saying such bad things about him?"

Hailey wiped away her tears. She fiddled with her fingers, far from her father. Zoey would never be as great as Theo.

She held Hailey's hands. "One day they will respect your father as much as you do."

"I know they will," Hailey said. "But I wish I didn't have to wait for that to happen. And I wish my father was okay."

"He will be."

Zoey pressed her lips against her friend's cheek, kissing it. Afterward, she released Hailey's hands, then embraced her. She hugged Zoey back. Hailey knew the names Theo and Lilly had given her siblings. She knew her mother had never kidnapped her. She knew her name.

Who was the girl hugging Hailey? Was she Zoey All? Or Alice Endman?