MARCH 3, 2022

The Exchangers ran inside a Freeman base, but they saw no Freemans.

Hero had seen pale brutes outside the building. He had killed the three Freemans he and the other Exchangers had seen.

They rushed in a hall, as if their father waited ahead. Not long ago, the base's alarm had turned on. Its noise assaulted Hero's ears. The walls, floor, and ceiling were gray, as if Freemans had turned a rainstorm's clouds into building material for this base.

Outside the building, Hero had learned Boris Endman was dead.

Hero had fantasized about meeting that High. The boy had never resided at the Soynite royal palace, but Boris had lived there. Freemans had destroyed it. Hero knew what it was like to lose a home. He had never let Boris know that, and he would never get the chance to.

Boris had gained immortality as a teenager. He had shut that power off, but he had reactivated it when he was twenty. One day he had shut his immortality off again. Many years after that, he had reactivated the power. Boris had looked ancient.

He had died. If someone had slain him, who was his killer?

"Wade!" Hero said.

He and Wade rushed beside each other, armed. They could use their blue laser pistols to defend themselves. The guns made it more likely they would survive their attack on the Freeman base.

"What?!" Wade asked.

"The Freemans killed Boris Endman!" Hero said. "Don't show them any mercy."

"Obviously, Hero," Wade said.

The alarm stopped sounding.

"Hero, can you help me?!" someone said, speaking Soynite.

No Exchanger had spoken, yet Hero had heard a voice. Whoever had talked to him didn't sound familiar. And he couldn't see them.

"Everyone, stop running!" Hero said. He and the others stopped running.

Wade looked at his laser pistol. Kat moved closer to Hero. With her free hand, she clutched his arm.

"It's all right, Kat," he said. "To the person following us, it's okay. We just want to talk. Reveal yourself, please."

A teenage girl became visible.

She rested her knee on the floor. Like Hero's sisters, she was thin. Light glowed against her long brown hair, which touched her purple jacket. She wore blue jeans, but she didn't don a Soynite pendant. Her brown eyes pointed at Hero.

"I'm sorry," she said.

An object lay near her, and the light shone against its blackness. A Soynite invisibility bracelet. Nobody could touch one without turning invisible, and the girl had taken hers off.

"I'm sorry for not revealing myself sooner," she said. "My name is Zoey. Zoey All. And I want to see my mother again."

Zoey stood.

"It's okay," Sydney said.

Wade aimed his gun at Zoey. She raised her hands before trembling. Wade pointed his weapon at a girl who might be innocent.

"No," he said. "It's not okay. Hero, this stalker might be a Lock Tannis supporter. She followed us. And she might try to kill us."

Zoey shook her head. "I don't support—"

"Be quiet!" Macy said. She put a hand on Hero's arm. "Wade is right, Hero. It's too risky to let her live. Wade, kill her."

"Stop!" Hero shouted. "No one is going to kill anyone."

Kat released his arm before moving closer to Wade. He kept the gun aimed at Zoey, as if Theo Majestic himself had told him she would destroy good people in the future.

Hero blocked Wade's path to Zoey. He didn't lower the weapon.

"Even if she isn't one of the evil Soynites, she can't find out why we're here," Wade said.

If the Exchangers didn't kidnap ten Pures, they might never find their father. Hero and his siblings knew what their mission was, but Heaven's people would kill Zoey if she learned too much. Regardless, Hero kept her behind him.

"You're not going to shoot me, brother," he said, toying with his pendant.

Macy glared at Wade. "Lower your gun, idiot."

"Listen to her, Wade," Sydney said. "Don't hurt Hero."

Hero scowled. "Put the gun—"

"Pale Monsters!"

A throwing knife zipped past Hero's head. It landed on the floor. Its green blade had come close to sinking into Hero's head. A strife throwing knife.

Unable to use his power, Hero grabbed Zoey's hand, and rushed past Wade and the other Exchangers. Hero's pendant swung without control.

He looked elsewhere.

Freemans opened fire, trying to kill his brothers and sisters. The enemies' combat boots beat against the floor. Sydney crawled toward the invisibility bracelet. Discarded, it sat on the floor. Invisibility bracelets could be helpful for kidnappers.

Macy laughed while shooting a Freeman. Kat trembled, but she didn't use her laser pistol.

Wade aimed his gun at Zoey.

"Let me run in front of you!" she said. She released Hero's hand.

A blue laser almost blasted into Zoey's head, and she screamed. A red laser tore through Wade's arm. He dropped the gun, then shouted. Blood pushed out his wound.

"It's okay!" Hero said, as Zoey ran in front of him. "My brother got shot."

Injured, Wade grabbed his gun before taking aim. He fired. The laser blasted through a Freeman's head. Hero wouldn't let that happen to Zoey.

He and the girl rounded a corner, and she grabbed his hand. Freemans didn't lurk in this hall. Rushing beside each other, Hero and Zoey moved through halls. While running in a long one, he spotted a door. He let go of Zoey's hand, swung the door open, then headed into the room.

No enemies.

Light covered the floor. Someone had painted a red Freeman sword on it. A table stood in front of the black sofa that hugged the wall. Hero and Zoey had found a lounge room, a safe room. She closed the door. Hero had a gun to keep himself safe. Did Zoey have one?

"Are you armed, Zoey?" Hero asked.

"Yes," Zoey said. "And I had to run in front of you, use you as a shield. I doubted Wade was going to shoot you."

Smart.

"My mother is going to be mad at me," Zoey said. She bent over before putting her hands on her knees. "The invisibility bracelet is hers. I left it on the floor."

"I saw my younger sister trying to get it," Hero said. "She has it. Sydney. That's her name."

Zoey straightened. She rubbed her slim arms.

"I know," she said. "I saw you and your siblings when we were still outside. You were all walking to this place. I need protection. Until my mother finds me, anyway. That's why I followed you and your brothers and sisters. I'm sixteen, by the way. How old are you?"

Hero looked at the door. "I'm sixteen, too. What's your mother's name?"

"Misty," Zoey said. "Misty Windsore. Don't forget that my name is Zoey All. All used to be my mother's last name, but she married my stepfather. His name is Boone Windsore. His daughter, my stepsister, is a High."

No High had a father named Boone, and no High had been born a female. Unless Theo Majestic had made a new generation of Soynite rulers.

"What?" Hero said. "There's a new generation of Highs?"

"Yes," Zoey told him. "Theo Majestic turned them into Highs. He did it during the Invasion. My stepfather watched it happen. He said goodbye to Lovely, his daughter, then he watched Theo turn her into a High. He met my mother that same night. They fell in love with each other. But I haven't seen Boone in a long time. I live with my mother and her best friend. He's a Bloodhound, and that's how I know that my mother will find me. Eventually."

Misty's best friend could find Hero's father. But if the Exchanger kidnapped ten Pures, a Bloodhound would lead him to his father. If Hero's mission became a success, Mitch and his children would be allowed to live at that better place. Their father had never been there. But one day he would see it.

"And I haven't met my stepsister, but I want to," Zoey said.

Hero's adoptive sister wanted Wade to kill Zoey, but he had saved the girl. Macy would survive the fight against the Freemans, and Hero would have to confront her. They had hugged earlier, back when he didn't know Zoey. Now he knew her, and so did Macy. But only one of those two Exchangers wanted to protect Zoey.

"You will," Hero said. "I'm going to help you survive. I promise. You deserve to be with your mother, and I really hope you find her. I'm looking for my father. He adopted me and most of my siblings. His only biological child is Sydney. I'm not related to any of my brothers and sisters."

A Freeman had shot Hero's brother Wade, but he hadn't been far from Macy when it happened. She might heal him.

"And you love them anyway, right?" Zoey said. Hero nodded. "I'm not related to Lovely, but I want to love her. She's another reason why I need to avoid being shot to death. I have to meet her. I want to see her before I die, and I want to see her soon. Very soon. Boone knows Lovely, and she knows him. But she probably doesn't know me."

"There was a time when I didn't know my adoptive father, Mitch," Hero told Zoey. "I met him, and he became my new father. Even though there's a chance that Lovely doesn't know who you are, that doesn't mean she never will. The people we love used to be strangers to us. Remember that, Zoey."

"I'll never forget it."

Hero hadn't forgotten how a laser had almost killed Zoey. Wade had fired that laser, providing Hero more evidence he would rather see Zoey dead than alive. Wade wouldn't sob if he murdered her. He had no love for the girl. He wasn't Boone or Misty.

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"Wade is dangerous," Hero said. "Don't forget that, either. You can't trust any of my siblings. Sydney probably doesn't want to kill you, because she tends to agree with me. She might help us. I don't think Wade and the others will. I'm going to try to convince them to let you live."

A painted sword remained on the gray floor. A strife throwing knife had almost gone into Hero's head. If that happened, he might have died in that hall. But he hadn't. He could help Zoey survive against his siblings and the Freemans. She might meet her stepsister, a High she had never loved.

Hero touched his blond hair. What did Lovely look like?

"What does Lovely look like?" the Exchanger asked.

"She has orange hair and green eyes," Zoey said. "Or maybe she dyed her hair a different color. Lovely Windsore probably isn't even her name anymore. She might have changed it. She went to Earth. That's where she was supposed to go, at least. But I don't know if she made it to this planet."

Had Lovely been born a Pure? How would Zoey react if Hero and his siblings kidnapped her stepsister?

He wouldn't kneel for a High. Neither would the other Exchangers. Hero might smile if he saw Zoey meet Lovely for the first time, but he wouldn't get on his knees for her.

"You're going to see Lovely," Hero said. Holding his Soynite pistol, he put his free hand on the wall. "We're also going to find your mother."

Zoey gestured to Hero.

"You saved my life," she said. "You're a good person. Wade was going to kill me, but you didn't let him."

If Zoey knew what Hero planned on doing, she might not call him a good person.

"I'm not going to let my siblings kill you," he said. "I love them, but I won't help them murder someone who doesn't deserve to be murdered."

"Why did Wade try to kill me?" Zoey asked.

Hero looked at the closed door. "I can't tell you why. But you don't have to worry, because I'm not my brother."

Zoey sat on the sofa. The wall behind it stood across from the one where the door was located. Hero headed closer to the door, and pressed his ear against it. Laser beam fire sounded in the distance. Two Soynite males had entered the base before Hero and the other Exchangers had. Maybe Freemans tried shooting those two Soynites.

Hero put the gun on the floor, then took off his backpack. It contained syringes filled with Vamp. The purple liquid might help him kidnap a Pure. Zoey didn't see the syringes or the other supplies Hero had brought with him. He set the backpack on the floor. His jacket's back side showed Soynite text and the building where his birth parents had died.

"You went to the Ascend Museum before?" Zoey said.

The museum's owner had been friends with Theo's wife, Lilly. Before the Invasion, she had spent multiple periods of time away from the Soynite public. Each one had lasted for months.

"Yes," Hero said. "I did. My birth parents got killed there. It was a massacre. Me and my family managed to escape in the fastest Soynite spaceship in the universe, though. We were fortunate. The owner, Land Preachman, died at the museum. He was killed by a Freeman. Land was friends with Lilly Majestic."

Hero turned to Zoey.

"I think Lilly was pregnant," she said. She tapped her finger against the sofa a few times. "I think she was pregnant more than once, actually. She went away from the Soynite public several times, but Theo Majestic never did that for too long. I believe he lied to us. I think he has children."

"If your theory is true, he had to lie," Hero said. "It makes sense that Theo wouldn't tell the Soynite public about his children. The Freemans would've found out about it. Theo didn't want them to harm his kids. That's understandable."

Zoey sighed. "And I don't want your siblings to harm me."

"The only people who will get hurt in this place are the pale brutes out there. My siblings won't hurt you, and you're not going to hurt them. I'll figure out a way for them to accept you."

Zoey stood, smiling.

"Can I hug you?" she said.

"Of course," Hero replied.

Zoey came closer, and she embraced him. He hugged her back. He didn't engage Freemans in a vicious battle, yet his heart hammered.

"Thank you," Zoey said. "Hero."

"You're welcome," Hero said. "I really do hope you see your mother again."

A noise came. Vicious red zipped past Hero's head, and the laser tore through a wall. The hug ended. Zoey stumbled back, and Hero turned. The door swung open.

Hero's gun lay on the floor, discarded. It remained a few feet away. Too far. The enemy aimed his laser gun at Hero, who couldn't use his Save.

Another noise came. A blue laser beam blasted through the wall behind the Freeman, and he dropped his gun before collapsing. Zoey had put a hole in his head.

"I told you I was armed," she said, wielding a blue laser pistol.

"You saved my life, Zoey," Hero said. "Thank you."

Zoey took aim, and fired. The Freeman released his weapon. He moved onto his back, then stopped breathing. Hero pulled the dead enemy's strife dagger out its sheath.

"This is why I can't use my Save," he said. He tossed the weapon onto the table. "That Freeman is going to turn into smoke soon. Let's get out of here."

Hero put his backpack on before picking up his gun. He and Zoey left the room. They looked around, but the hall lacked Freemans. Did the other Exchangers see any? Had Macy healed Wade's arm?

"I hope Wade's okay," Hero said.

"And I hope he won't kill me later," Zoey said.

"He won't."

"I know he won't. I don't want to die today, and I'm not going to."

Hero smiled. He had left his brothers and sisters in a hall, but he had met Zoey All. And she had formed a theory.

"Your theory about Theo having secret children, I wonder if it's true," Hero said. "It probably is. Theo might be a father."

"My father is a secret to me," Zoey said. "As far as I'm concerned, Boone is my father, and Lovely is my sister."

"I know what it's like to have family that isn't biologically related to you. You saw my siblings. I know one of them tried to kill you, but I love my family anyway. I'm sure you're going to love Lovely."

Zoey glanced around. "I already love her. Boone told me a lot about her. It's a shame that I can't be with her right now."

The hall connected to two others, but Hero made no attempt to leave the one he stood in.

"It's not a shame that you exist, though," Zoey said. "I'm glad that I stopped that Freeman from killing you. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be here. And if you hadn't protected me from Wade, I probably would've died in that hall. I'm grateful. I really am. You protected me. Whatever happens, I'm going to protect you, too."

Zoey put a hand on Hero's arm.

"I'll do it as best as I can," she said. "I know we're in a Freeman base. But I appreciate the fact that you're with me. Really, I am. Even though your brother tried to kill me, and your sister Macy wanted him to. You're better than them."

Hero rubbed his thumb along his gun's blue metal. "Wade probably would've killed you if I hadn't helped you. My brother made a choice, and he chose wrong."

Hero had donned his museum employee jacket, went into the Freeman base, and he had chosen to save Zoey. She had saved him from a Freeman in a lounge room. Hero had made the right choice.

"Siblings can have different beliefs than each other," he said. "And it's possible for situations like that to turn deadly. But I know that Wade isn't going to kill me. I saved your life, and my brother didn't want me to. Neither did Macy. The others probably didn't want me to do it, either. But I did it anyway. And I'm glad that I did."

Zoey smiled. Hero almost did the same.

"You don't deserve to die, and I wasn't going to let Wade kill you," he said. "You saved my life, and I definitely have to do what I can to keep you safe, too. I'm not my brother. I'm not Wade. You're safe with me, Zoey. I want you to know that. You're not going to end up like that Freeman you shot. I can protect you, and you can protect me. We're going to protect each other."

Zoey had stopped a Freeman from killing Hero. If she hadn't slain Lock's warrior, he might have killed the Exchanger. If he died, there would be one less person to help free his father.

Freemans had taken Hero's father, but he hadn't seen the man inside this gray building. Lock's warriors had built other bases, and their space stations occupied outer space. There were other Freeman places where Hero's father might be. Maybe he wouldn't find Mitch within this base's prison wing.

"I wish you could meet my father," Hero said. "If he met you, he wouldn't try to shoot you. That's the type of person he is. He's great. He's not one of those horrible Soynites."

"He's not like Wade, right?" Zoey said.

Mitch might be locked inside a prison cell, one that was the same color as the hall. He hadn't learned his children planned on kidnapping ten Pures to reunite with him. His son Wade had tried murdering Hero's savior, a High's stepsister.

Hero put a hand on Zoey's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for what he tried to do to you," he said. "I'm not going to let him hurt you. He isn't going to kill you. Neither will any of my other siblings."

"How do you know?" Zoey said.

"They will support the choice I made," Hero said. "I saved you, and they will have to accept that. That's what's going to happen. People die, and Freemans have died today. But you won't. Wade tried to kill you, but I have to see him again. He's my brother, and I need him. But I don't need him to kill you. The only people who have to die right now are these Freemans, not you. You saved me from that one in the lounge room. The Freemans are my enemies. You're not. Still, you have to be careful when we see Wade again. And we will see him again."

"Macy wants to kill me, too."

If Freemans hadn't interrupted earlier, Macy might have shot and killed Zoey. Macy might have done what Wade had failed to do. But Hero had helped Zoey in the hall where they had last seen Macy and the other Exchangers, and Hero could help Zoey again.

"She's not going to," Hero said. He pressed an arm against the hard wall. "You managed to get away from her and the others, and I'm sure we'll see them again. When that time comes, I'll protect you from them. I've done it before. And I can do it again. I'm sorry that you have to be careful around the Freemans and my siblings. Trust me, this isn't what I wanted to happen. I wanted my brothers and sisters to agree with me. Wade obviously didn't. But he's going to accept my decision. The others will, too. I'll make sure they do. I don't want the girl who saved me to get killed today."

"Tell your brothers and sisters to not kill me," Zoey said. "I have a mother to get back to, and I have a father I can't see. So do you. I don't want to get killed by anyone, and that includes Wade and the rest of your siblings. I want to live, Hero."

"I want you to live, too. You need protection, and I will gladly protect you. Especially after what you've done for me."

Zoey looked at the floor. "I don't just need protection. I need a friend. A really good one, too."

Hero had gone away from Wade and the rest of his siblings. Zoey had used him as a shield, and Wade hadn't fired a laser through Hero's body to kill the girl while she ran in front of him. She had become his newest ally.

"Friends protect each other," Hero said. "I've protected you, and you've protected me. Let's be friends."

Zoey made eye contact with him.

"Okay," she said. "Let's be friends. And let's help each other survive."

"We've already been helping each other survive," Hero said. "But I will gladly keep helping you. Wade doesn't want to, but he will. All my brothers and sisters will."

Zoey looked around, but she saw no Freeman warriors.

"You have three sisters," she said. "And I only have one."

Hero didn't kneel for Lovely. Neither did Zoey. They stood next to each other in a hall. He had never seen a High. But if he met one who had been born a Pure, he would have to kidnap the ruler.

"Is one of the Highs a Pure?" Hero said.

"I don't know," Zoey said. Hero fought the urge to sigh. "I know one of them is my stepsister, at least. I have to meet her. And I have to serve her, too. We have to serve our Highs. Killing Freemans isn't the only thing we have to do. There are Highs we have to protect and serve. My stepfather saw all of them while the Freemans were attacking Soy, and I'll see them, too. I'll meet them. And I'll be good to them. I want to kneel for the Highs."

Hero didn't want to kneel for the Highs.

"So do I," he said.

Zoey smiled.

Hero didn't. He had lied to her, and that had almost made him frown.

"I can tell you're a good person," Zoey told Hero, who planned on kidnapping ten Pures. "Your siblings want to kill me, but you got me away from them. You got me away from Wade."

Hero hadn't succeeded in stopping the Freemans from capturing his father, but the Exchanger had prevented Wade from murdering Zoey. Hero's brother might try to kill her later. Sydney might help Hero protect Zoey, but Wade, Everett, Macy, and Kat might treat Zoey like she were a Freeman.

She had turned one into smoke. The girl didn't deserve to be treated like a Freeman.

"I still support my brothers and sisters," Hero said. "But I support you, too. I don't approve of what Wade tried to do to you, but I still love him. I'm going to convince him to help you. I'll make the others do the same. They're going to do what I want them to do, and I don't have to be a High to make that happen. I want all of us to live. Me, you, and my siblings."

Zoey looked around the hall.

"We want to live, and that means we have to be careful," she said. "I'm no one special, but my stepsister is. I want to meet her before I die. I already know I will, though. Me and her aren't going to be separated forever. I'll find Lovely."

Hero rubbed his laser pistol. "And I'll find my father."

Hero stood in a building Freemans had built, and maybe his father did the same. Hero hadn't found the man who had raised him, but he had discovered a High's stepsister inside this Freeman base, a place Hero and the other Exchangers had headed into. They hadn't given their father the freedom he deserved. Zoey hadn't met Lovely Windsore.

Hero would rather kneel in front of a rose than a High.

"I haven't hugged Boone in a long time," Zoey said. "I really want to hug him, but I can't. I want to hug Lovely too. But I can't do that, either. I've spent years knowing about her, and I've spent years wishing that Boone would come back. I wish he was my father. He definitely deserves to be. His daughter had to go away from him when the Freemans were attacking Soy, and he met me after that."

Zoey had met Boone, a man Hero had never met. She knew who her stepfather was, but her biological father was a secret to her.

"He met me, his second daughter," Zoey said. "We escaped Soy together. And my mother was there, too. Boone lived with us. I loved being able to see him, and then I stopped being able to. He was gone. No matter how many times I wished I could see him, I couldn't. He was the only father I had. He still is."

Mitch Shame. Boone Windsore. Two missing fathers.

Boone had fathered a girl, and Theo had made her into a High. Boone had married a woman, and her daughter had saved Hero. He hadn't lost the opportunity to save his father one day, and Zoey was the reason for that.

"You're going to see him again," he said. "You know that. And I know what it's like to love a father who isn't your first one. I will do whatever I have to do to see my father again. I met him for the first time when I was five, but he raised me. He's my father. He helped me, and I have to help him. I will help him. He was captured by Freemans, and I plan on getting him back. So does Wade and my other siblings. If I was missing, my father would try to find me. I know he would."

"And I know your father has a great son," Zoey said.

"Thank you, Zoey. And I think that we should get out of this hall. This Freeman base has a rooftop, and that's where we need to be."

Hero and Zoey moved. As their shoes made contact with the floor, they heard no laser beam fire. But the enemies they didn't see should be armed, like the one Zoey had killed inside the lounge room had been. She had kept Hero safe, and he would protect her.

Zoey walked beside him. "Your siblings want to kill me."

"I know," Hero said.

"How are you going to protect me without killing them?" Zoey asked.

"Let's just focus on getting to the roof."