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his associate’s degree. He just got engaged”—she held up her hand—“which if you ask me is way too young to commit, but whatever. His life.”
    Realm noted the easy way she spoke about the aftermath of The Program. “So he’s okay?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” Corrine said. “I mean, at first he was boring, dull as hell, but he adjusted. He doesn’t remember much, but I don’t know, maybe that’s not a bad thing.” She shrugged and took a sip from her coffee. “I just want him alive. So although that Program shit was scary . . . it worked, right? For a time, it worked. I’m grateful.”
    Realm couldn’t respond. He’d spent so long hating and resenting The Program, his part in it, that he’d forgotten that in the end, people survived. Even though the cost was high, they lived.
    The door to the lobby swung open, sucking the warm air out of the room. James stood there with his and Realm’s bags, his jaw tight and his hair still wet from the shower. When he noticed Realm, he cut across theroom and stopped in front of him.
    “Let’s go,” he said, not acknowledging Corrine. Realm stared at him and then took a calm sip from his drink.
    “James,” he said casually. “This is Corrine. Corrine, this is James.”
    James glanced at her and nodded, cold and unapproachable. It was clear he had something to say to Realm—leftover animosity from the night before. Corrine shifted her eyes to Realm and snorted a laugh.
    “I’m serious,” James said. “Let’s go. It’s a long drive.”
    Realm waved him away, letting him know he’d be there in a minute. James’s expression tightened, probably annoyed at being blown off, and he walked back to the door.
    “Now, he,” Corrine said, gesturing toward James’s back, “looks like a real asshole.”
    Realm smiled. “Yeah, and he’s the nice one. Go figure.”
    Corrine looked doubtful, but eventually she turned to Realm. “So . . .” she said with a grin. “Do . . . you want my number?”
    Realm was attracted to her; she was cool. But in her dark eyes he saw vulnerability—learned to read that kind of weakness while in The Program. Corrine was going through something, whether it was about her ex-boyfriend or her lackluster job prospects, he wasn’t sure. But Realm had promised that he wouldn’t take advantage of another person again. He couldn’t. “I don’t think so,” he said, holding her eyes.
    Corrine pouted her lips slightly, and then smiled. “Too bad,” she said. “Under different circumstances, maybe?” she asked.
    Realm nodded with a slight sting of regret. “Definitely,” he said. He grabbed the cup of coffee from the counter that he’d poured for James and started toward the door. And just before he left, Corrine called his name. He turned, alive under her attention.
    “Be kind to yourself, Michael,”she said. “You’re the one who has to live with you.”
    He smiled sadly, sure this girl could see through him, know the hurt he fought against every day. “I’m trying,” he said. And then he wentoutside to find James.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    REALM SAT DOWN IN THE passenger seat of the SUV, ready to have it out with James. Finish the conversation so they could move on. He swallowed hard and turned to find James with his head down, his hands tight on the steering wheel.
    “I’m sorry,” James said, surprising him. “I’m sorry I told you to shut up last night.”
    Realm was quiet for a moment, confused. Was . . . was James apologizing to him? After everything Realm had done, did James Murphy seriously just apologize and make his guilt even worse?
    “James, don’t—”
    “I’m not saying what you did was right,” James clarified, looking sideways at him. “Not at all. But you’re trying to be better, Michael. You’re taking responsibility, giving people back their memories as you stand in to take their abuse. The Program erased them,” he said. “Not you.”
    Realm wanted to argue, tell James hewas wrong—that he