I turned on my heel, somehow managing to keep the grin off my face until I’d left the atrium. This was my chance to prove myself to the geroi—and to Gitrin. If I could just do this one thing, nothing could stop me. I was certain I would pass my evaluation the second time around. The first time had been a fluke, an anomaly. I’d become a gerouin in my own right, and no one would doubt me again.

I hurried out onto the vi’in, propelled forward by my giddy confidence, not looking back, not pausing for a moment’s reflection. I couldn’t slow down, wouldn’t let Gitrin’s sharp words catch up with me. She may have been my tutor for the last six years, but she was wrong. I knew she was. I was enilin today, and nothing could stop me.

I kept my head held high, even as her voice still echoed through my mind, an insidious whisper in my ear.

“You’re not ready.”

◦ • ◦

The boy was no longer in the hospital bed when I returned. He was up, dressed in plain clothes like my own—long-sleeved and silver. The cranial scanner had been replaced with the smaller, standard earpiece. Dressed like this, he almost looked like he belonged here.

Almost.

I hesitated for a moment outside the glass windows, watching him. Then the door slid open and there was a medic—a man, this time, but with the same unwavering smile as always.

“Kyrin Nadin,” he said, guiding me through the door, “thank you for coming. I was informed you would be assisting the esotoi with our studies.”

“You’ve spoken to Gerouin Melusin?”

“No, the message was given to me by Gitrin. She recommended the assignment as part of your ongoing studies.”

I stopped short. “Gitrin?”

“Of course. And, kyrin, we greatly appreciate the offer of your invaluable time, and hope that your experiences here will be helpful in your leadership training. It is wonderful to know that even in such dire times, the geroi can be relied upon to care for even the smallest concerns of the Iamoi.”

“All lives are one,” I said, smiling automatically. Melusin had said nothing of Gitrin’s involvement. Earlier she’d said that they were going to find me a new tutor. A pang twisted inside me. Most of me never wanted to hear her name again, but an irrational part of me still warmed at the sound of it. She’d been my caretaker for most of my life, more than the geroi had ever been, despite living under the same roof as them. I wanted to hate her, but I wasn’t quite there yet.

The boy was watching me again. I noticed his gaze and squared my shoulders, meeting his dark eyes defiantly. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me again. I was here on a mission.