He was right when he said I know things that will keep me safe, but if I can’t identify them, they don’t do me any good. If only I could talk to him, I think, and the thought makes my heart ache. I’ve never missed him and Pembrook so much in my life.

THE DINING HALL is buzzing with conversation by the time Layla and I arrive, and even though the other students’ body language is subtle, it’s obvious they keep looking in our direction.

The teachers are paying more attention to us than they normally do, and Blackwood and Conner are sitting with them, which is unusual. The air feels electrically charged, like one misstep and the whole place could spontaneously combust.

Ash sits down across from us and immediately starts piling fettuccini Alfredo onto his plate, like everything is perfectly normal and he’s starving.

“Any word on the guard?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

He shakes his head. “From what I’ve heard, no one has even been questioned yet. It’s not like Blackwood. She usually goes right at an issue without hesitation.”

“Like I keep saying,” Layla adds, “something is off with this whole situation.”

A girl and a guy sit down next to us and we all fall silent. Layla scans the room in a way that tells me she’s lost in thought, and Ash looks up periodically to where Brendan and the other Lions sit.

I dip some crusty bread in the cream sauce on my plate, flipping through my memories to find anything that might explain who I am and help me understand the missing pieces. I actually felt safer when I thought I might be accused of Stefano’s murder than I do now. At least then I didn’t think people were actively trying to kill me.

I keep replaying my conversation with Ash about how Strategia don’t get to decide to be anything else. Part of me refuses to believe it, but I know that part of me is wrong. If I manage to avoid my own death until I get home to Dad, I’m still trapped. I could try my best to fly under the radar, be so unimportant that no one would be interested in what I do for the rest of my life. But if I stay in Pembrook, I’ll need to follow the rules or I’ll put myself and the people I care about at risk. And even if I spend my life following the rules, that doesn’t mean I’ll be out of danger.

I have to believe that Dad had no choice but to send me here or I don’t think I can forgive him. He said I had to go to this school for my safety—now there’s a laugh. I no longer know what I can trust or which of the things he said were actually true. Although by the time I get through the intense study regimen Layla has me on, I’m sure that will change.