Rose. I swallow and my heart speeds up. “My middle name is Rose,” I say, unsure what to make of the fact that I might be named for someone who I not only didn’t know existed, but who is part of a Family like the Lions.

Ash must hear the hesitancy in my voice because he glances at me and all he says is: “Hmmm.”

“ ‘Hmmm’ is right,” I say, and we’re both silent for a few seconds, trying to untangle this bizarre information.

“And so Jag chose Arlo over his own daughter even though she’s a great strategist?” I say, miffed.

“He did,” Ash says in a tone that tells me he agrees with my judgment. “The thing that’s odd is that no one at the Academy has been talking about Arlo’s death. Logan was right when he said we should have already known. The murder of the Lion Regent is big news. Very big news.”

“It only happened a month ago, though. Isn’t communication to the Academy monitored and delayed?” I say.

“It is. But Brendan would have been told, the same way you were told when your aunt was killed,” Ash says. “And that is exactly the type of news that spreads quickly. But Brendan protected it, keeping it from the rest of the school.”

“Maybe he didn’t want everyone gossiping about it?” I suggest, because that’s what I would want. But then I remember something Layla said during one of our midnight challenges: We always expect that people will react the way we do—that when we hit them they’ll hit back, or that when we help them they’ll be grateful—and when they don’t behave the way we think they will, we’re surprised. “No, scratch that. You’re right. There must have been a reason he didn’t want everyone to know.”

“A specific political reason,” Ash says. “One that may have an impact on our conflict with the Lion Family, especially if your father was falsely accused.”

“You told me earlier that because the Lion attacks on my family have been spread out over the years, something must have instigated this last one. Do you think this is it? Do you think that’s why my dad sent me to the Academy, because he knew he was accused and the Lions would be coming for him?” I ask.

“Likely,” Ash says, but his voice betrays his doubt.

And again we drop into silence and I stare out the window, analyzing our newfound information.

“There’s something else…,” I say, turning back toward Ash. “We got information from Logan, but we didn’t find out where we were supposed to go next.”

“London,” Ash says.

“Right, but it doesn’t match my dad’s previous clues,” I say.

Ash glances at me, waiting for me to continue.