"You can always blame Even," Braig comments, with another shrug. "Who knows what all he was doing with my heart, right?"

Better still, he was the only one who'd been used as a test subject. There won't been anyone else to prove his oddness isn't just a result of Even's meddling - or even that Even has been involved. His secret will be safe for a little longer.

"I had to catch your attention somehow, didn't I?"