"I'm telling you, I—"
"Cole! Finn! Malcolm!"
A sweet, urgent voice rang out from down the street, cutting him off.
All three of them whipped around. A figure fluttered toward them like a butterfly and threw herself into their arms, clinging.
"I missed you all so much!"
Cole's cold eyes erupted with pure, unguarded joy. "Miri?!"
He shot a wary glance at me, then turned his back and lowered his voice. "How did you—"
Miriam bit her lip, her face crumpling with rehearsed hurt.
"I missed you too much. I begged the System to give me five minutes to see you."
"Cole..." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"You have to hurry. If you can't take the body back soon, the System will declare my mission a failure."
Three men who commanded boardrooms and crushed rivals were suddenly helpless, tripping over themselves.
"Don't worry, Miri. We've got you."
I stood off to the side, forgotten, watching them cling to each other like a family being reunited. Like I wasn't even there.
They never really knew me. Otherwise, how could they have forgotten I could read lips?
Miriam, wearing someone else's body, turned back before she left.
She walked up to me, leaned down, and curled her lips into a smile.
"Then let me thank you in advance for your body, Lorna Harding."
The next day I was discharged. My three brothers, dazed and distracted, brought me home, deposited me in my room, and left without another word.
They hurried into Cole's study.
I put on my earpiece. Their voices came through, urgent and agitated.
"This attempt failed because we didn't push hard enough! If this keeps up, Miri's going to die!"
Malcolm kicked a chair over.
He noticed the water stains on the keyboard and frowned, but the thought passed as quickly as it came.
Cole drew a long breath.
"Tomorrow is Lorna's birthday. Get a few vagrants in here, have them waiting in her room. I refuse to believe this won't work."
My hands went limp. My phone hit the floor hard, and a high-pitched ringing filled my ears.
My legs gave out. I sank to the ground, laughing. The sound was hollow and desolate.
The next day. The birthday banquet.
Perhaps to maximize the shock, to grind my dignity into dust so completely that Miriam could take over for good.
They had invited half of D.C.'s elite and nearly every major media outlet.
"Here. You're nineteen today. Old enough to drink."