I head between the two long dining tables, my eyes trained on the door, anything to avoid looking at Matteo again or I’m positive I’m going to do something I regret.

I’m almost to the door when Conner cuts me off. I didn’t even see him get up from the teachers’ table. “November, I need to speak with you,” he says, and touches his beard.

“Right now?” I say, not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

“Yes, I have some…news,” he says, and I stop dead in my tracks.

“What news?” I say quickly. I can’t help but wonder if he saw me looking upset and decided it was the right time to shit on me further.

“If you’ll follow me to my—” he starts.

“No, just tell me,” I say, already running through a list of terrible possibilities in my head and agitating myself even more.

“I must insist that we at least step out of the dining hall.” He pushes through the door before I can reply. I follow, but he doesn’t stop until he’s halfway down the empty hallway. “Do not ask me questions about what I’m about to tell you, because I do not know the answers. It’s customary that this type of news is delivered by family members, but considering the recent circumstances, you are not permitted a visit.”

My entire body tenses. I want to yell at him to just say it already.

He evaluates the hallway to make sure it’s empty and levels his gaze at me. “Jo is dead.”

For a second, I’m completely still, trying to make sense of his words. Jo? My aunt Jo? “No,” I say, and shake my head. “No. That can’t be true.”

“As I said, I cannot tell you any more. That is all I know. Jo is dead,” he repeats as though he can see that I’m resisting accepting it.

Someone killed my aunt? My aunt is dead. She’s dead. The hallway spins. My chest feels like it’s constricting and soon there will be no air left. My vision blurs with tears, and with each excruciating heartbeat I back away from him. I see his lips moving, but I can’t hear a word he’s saying.

If the Bears were responsible for my mom’s death, who’s to say they aren’t responsible for Aunt Jo’s? She wasn’t just living in America, she hated them all. Ash said it was forbidden to leave your Family. Was this what my dad was trying to stop when he shipped me off here? My fists clench, my grief mixing with my anger explosively.

All of a sudden, I’m running, tears spilling down my cheeks. I slam through the door into the dining hall, and as if on cue, the whole room turns to look at me. But I’m not watching them; I’m looking straight at Matteo. I run full-speed toward him, jump onto a chair, and dive over the table. His eyes widen as I collide with him, slamming us both onto the floor. He grunts and tries to fling me off him, but I’m screaming and clinging to him for all I’m worth. For a brief moment, I see Conner towering above us. Then there is a sharp pain in my head and the world goes black.