“Well, you know the way to the kitchen,” Callaway said with a conspiratorial wink. “If anyone asks, that chocolate cake was half gone when you found it.”

“Yes, sir,” Elliot said as we changed direction and headed toward the kitchen. We were about to round the corner when Callaway called out.

“One moment, Regan,” he said, and we turned as he made his way back down the hallway toward us, his forehead scrunched in concentration. My pulse was suddenly hammering in my ears, and I felt a cold sweat prickle down my back. Callaway had figured it out.

“Regan,” Callaway said. “I meant to ask you about this earlier today, but I received a very strange message from your mother last night.”

“Last night?” I repeated, confused as my mind scrambled. “She contacted you before the emergency Glitch jump?” Suddenly I felt Elliot’s elbow digging into my ribs, and I realized my mistake. There had never been an emergency Glitch jump last night because the Academy had never been destroyed.

“Emergency Glitch jump?” Callaway said, looking from Elliot to me and back again. “What emergency Glitch jump?”

“She means the simulation we just practiced,” Elliot said. “We tried out the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory simulation, and it really threw us for a loop.”

Callaway shook his head at us. “You know that’s not a simulation we allow cadets to practice. We save events like those until you are in your final training year.”

“I can see why,” Elliot said with a shudder. I’m not sure what my own face did as I momentarily relived the gruesome fire, but Callaway put comforting hands on our shoulders.

“I don’t mind you two training at night, but stay away from the upper-level simulations. Okay?”

We nodded, and I felt a rush of relief that Elliot had successfully saved us from my slipup.

“But back to your mother,” Callaway said. “She sent me a message informing me that she didn’t want you participating in any more training missions on Academy grounds. Especially after Officer Salzburg mysteriously disappeared en route to the mountain this morning. She said that while she appreciated the formal notice I gave her of the event, that I should send such correspondence electronically in the future,” he said, his face a study of confusion. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

I just stared at him, my mouth open in surprise as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. Training mission? What training mission? And what notice had he given her?

“Regan’s mom is just super overprotective,” Elliot cut in. I turned to him, and he opened his eyes wide and gave me a look that made it clear I was supposed to go along with whatever this was.