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secret underground lairs and ramshackle warehouses hidden across town were treated as completely normal. Not to mention, Obadiah had been instrumental in relocating and watching over Morton’s army.
    I don’t know what I’d do without Obadiah. Then again, in this moment, I’m not sure what to do with him, either.
    “Okay,” I say. “Let’s get this moving along. We have to pretend to …” I wrinkle my nose again.
    “Have sex. You can say it.”
    “That is such a strange word. When I heard it in Twig City, it was clinical, almost cold. But when you say it, when I think it, it’s different here.” My cheeks burn. It’s a subject that has brought me much teasing these last few weeks, but I can’t bring myself to talk so casually about something that seems so intensely intimate.
    Obadiah sighs. “Okay, when I say, you’re going to roll on top of me and moan.”
    “How do I moan?”
    “You sort of sigh … with your voice.”
    “That’s how it sounds?”
    “This is not happening right now,” he says to himself. And then to me, “That’s how it sounds tonight. Now, come on.” He shifts, inching closer on his back. I push up on my palms and toes and let him slide in. When he’s underneath me, I lower my torso to his. It’s a strange sort of closeness, like a hug with more body.
    “Now breathe out,” he says.
    I breathe out.
     

Chapter Six
    Linc comes early the next morning. I’ve changed my pajamas, a silk pants set that ends just above my ankle with a button-up shirt to match. It’s not the least bit revealing, but when he steps into my room and shuts the door, I feel exposed enough that my cheeks heat.
    Obadiah’s already gone, slipped out somewhere between my wardrobe change and dawn. I wonder if Linc knows he was here. If he notices the scent of spicy cologne in the air, he doesn’t mention it.
    Without a word, he begins a thorough search of my room. It’s a routine we’ve fallen into when he visits. Twice he’s removed listening devices from various hiding places among my things. Once we found a camera hidden in the mouth of a small ceramic tiger. For days after, it made me ill to imagine the entire security force watching me change my clothes each day. Linc assured me he found and destroyed the tapes.
    This time, his sweep comes up empty. I don’t trust it. Not after Williams.
    Linc comes toward me, his mouth open to say who knows what sort of incriminating thing. I hold my finger to my lips to shush him and shake my head. I slip out of bed and over to the stereo. I hit a few buttons and sultry jazz once again leaks from the speakers. Linc’s brow rises but he doesn’t comment on my selection.
    When I’ve returned to his side, he leans down and presses his mouth to my ear. “You don’t think it’s empty?” he asks.
    I shake my head.
    “Why not?”
    “Williams,” I say, my lip curling at the single name.
    “What about him?” His voice hardens to sharp edges and I realize he has no idea.
    “Where have you been?”
    He frowns. Instead of answering he says, “Come here.” He snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me close. I’m tucked in tight against his side as he draws the covers over our head. I inhale the scent of spicy cologne and feel a little guilty.
    “What is it?” Linc asks, his voice barely more than a breath.
    I draw the device out of the pillowcase I’d stuffed it in earlier. It is nothing more than a shadow of gray with sharp edges in the darkness between us. From some pocket, Linc produces a slender flashlight and clicks it on. The minute he sees the device, his expression twists. He lowers the flashlight to pat his pants pocket. Satisfied, he looks back at me with a different emotion. His eyes widen.
    “How in the hell did you …?”
    I smile smugly. If Linc didn’t suspect me, I know Titus won’t.
    “I’m being proactive,” I say.
    His eyes narrow. This is the part I wasn’t looking forward to. “How?” he asks through closed teeth.
    I swallow