Clueless as to what’s about to happen.

“Let’s not get overly excited,” Barend warns. “The trucks arriving is only step one.” He sets his jaw and cocks his gun, rolling a black mask over his forehead and mouth, all the way down to his uniform’s collar. The high-tech materials absorb the starlight so expertly, he disappears right before my eyes.

“See you on the other side,” Kano says to Ava and me, flashing his bright smile before securing his own mask.

The line of trucks is five minutes away now.

They’re moving fast.

We’d better move faster.

Ava slips her helmet over her red hair and squeezes my hand.

No fear.

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a twin,” Lucía says, looking at the two of us. She tugs a Goodwin mask over her slicked-back ponytail, covering her chestnut- brown eyes, her dark rosebud lips. Vanishing behind the face of Ava Goodwin.

“So have I,” Haven mutters beneath her own 3D-printed face that looks identical to mine.

Her statement isn’t despairing or bitter. Just her truth. The reason she’s out here fighting.

My mother. I tug at my sleeve and expose my right wrist, taking a last look at the ink stained into my skin. I trace my gloved fingers along the yellow petals of a black-eyed Susan, my mother’s emblem, which hug the curve of a radiant eye.

It’s my mother watching me. My father. Rayla.

Not the Guard. Or surveillance. Their power’s about to come to its end. We’re here to see to that.

“It’s time,” Lucía announces. She grabs Skye’s arm, pulling her close. “Remember, stick to the script.”

Skye grins. “That’s not how I work.” She yanks Lucía’s gun from her belt. “I’ll be needing this,” she says and sets off first, throwing up her chin like a woman in charge.

“All eyes,” Ava says as Kano and Barend disperse, stealing into their positions.

Alexander lingers, shaking his head like he has a mind to desert. But finally, he turns and follows the soldiers into the dark.

“Do not hesitate. Be forceful,” Haven instructs Ava and me as she moves into position. “That is how the Guards will know you are one of them.”

She bends her knees and shoulders to even her height with Lucía’s. They stand side by side in front of us, placing their hands behind their backs. Ava and I hand them guns.

“Do what you need to sell it,” Lucía says.

Ava nods and grips Lucía by her ponytail, making her intake a sharp hiss of pain.

“Good,” Lucía murmurs beneath her mask.

“If they open fire,” Haven whispers, “stay behind me.”

I nod, but I have no intention of staying behind in any capacity. Ava shoves Lucía forward, and with a deep breath, I grab a fistful of Haven’s collar and push her ahead.

With their baggy jackets and matching boots, the pair looks near enough like twins.

Twins worth a substantial bounty.

This plan will work, I repeat to myself right as Skye shouts.

“Guards!” she yells. Her voice projects across the empty terrain dividing us and the two surveillance towers.

It’s dead silent out here on the edge of nowhere.

“Disable the weapons and speak with me!”

Skye stops her advance and toes the line that splits dark from light. One more step and she will walk into the blinding perimeter of the spotlights. One more step and she will activate the automated guns. The lasers. The drones.

One more inch and she’s in the kill zone.

“I have captured Ava and Mira Goodwin!” she shouts, waving the gun in her hand, gesturing for us to move forward.

My sister and I drive “Ava” and “Mira” the last few steps to stand beside their captor.

“Open the gate!” Skye commands, like someone accustomed to being obeyed.

The harsh beam of a searchlight flashes on our gang of five. For an instant I shift my weight to the balls of my feet, hankering to run, but I dig in the heels of my boots and stand my ground.

We’re still sixty yards from the two towers that sandwich the stainless steel gate.

And on the other side, the bridge.

From this distance, the Guards will fall for the Goodwin masks. They’ll have to trust their facial recognition cameras to be their eyes and judge.

Exactly what the prosthetic masks are designed to do. To trick surveillance.

“Identify yourself!” a cold voice orders through a loudspeaker.

“The name’s Skye Lin!” our posse’s leader shouts. “Might have heard of me?”

“Stupid,” Lucía whispers hotly.

We were to give away no names. But maybe it will help. Her reputation might persuade them that this setup is real . . .

“That assassin’s in Dallas, locked in Guardian Tower!” the hostile voice returns.

“Aw, are you guys left out of the Loyalist dispatches?” Skye digs. “I escaped! Took the Traitorous Twins with me. I couldn’t find the State Guard anywhere to hand them over, but I knew the Border Guard would be here . . . you always are.”

Silence.

“Do you want a piece of the reward, or not?” Skye yells with a biting impatience. “Open the gate!”

Nobody moves. And neither does the gate.

To my right, Ava kicks the back of “Ava’s” knees, sending her to the rocky ground. Lucía releases an echoed cry.

“Mira” mocks a fight to escape her bonds. “Use force,” Haven whispers urgently behind her mask. “Make them believe.”

Steeling myself, I jab my boot into her leg and snatch her red mane as she drops to her backside. “Stay down, you filthy Glut!” I shout, the words like acid in my throat.

“It’s your own heads, then!” Skye calls out. “I’ll be sure to tell Governor Roth his Border Guard let his twins get away.” Her warning rings across the dead air.

Still, the metal gate doesn’t stir.

I feel Ava bristle beside me. All of this shouting’s leading nowhere.

A deep line creases Skye’s forehead, her eyes narrowing beneath her thick lashes. Her trigger finger taps against Lucía’s pistol.

No. We can’t outgun them. Our only chance is to outwit them.

Does the promise of riches and arresting the infamous twins really hold no power over these Guards?

Did we overestimate our value?

“I’ll take my bounty to another unit!” Skye shouts, her final rehearsed lines. “And yours will end up in a prison cell!”

She doesn’t wait for a response. Signaling for us to leave, Skye flicks up her middle finger to the towers in a bold show of insolence.

I expect the cries of sirens. Or the first rounds of machine-gun fire.

But it’s the Guard’s electronic voice that responds, halting our faux retreat. “We could just take the prisoners from you. And the reward—”

“You could try!” Ava challenges, unable to stay silent.

Ava can’t ever keep her mouth closed.

The plan was for neither of us to join in on the exchange, evading any chance the Guard might realize the true Ava and Mira really are here.

Hauling “Mira” up by her hair, I flick off the safety of her pistol, then mine. I press my helmet against Haven’s ear, pushing out a barely audible whisper. “Do you see any drones? Scent Hunters?”