“He was what? Why would…Maybe Dr. Conner? It could be some kind of new assessment tactic,” Ash says, and a hint of concern reappears in his tone.

“Maybe,” I say. “But that punch earned Matteo a third mark and landed him in the outer perimeter—a punishment orchestrated by Blackwood that just might have saved his life. My guess is that she was trying to keep him out of harm’s way. Maybe trying to keep him safe and test me at the same time.”

Ash looks at me questioningly for a second. “He told you more, didn’t he?”

I nod slowly. I’ve barely begun to process it all myself.

Ash waits for me to say something, and when I don’t he says, “Did he tell you who you are?”

“Yes. My dad is a Lion, like we suspected,” I say, stretching out my sentence and trying to figure out how to approach the rest of my answer. “And considering what my parents did, it makes sense that the Lions want to kill me badly,” I add. I want to tell Ash that I’m Matteo’s cousin and explain why I’m a target, but I need to think it through first. If I’ve learned anything from Ash, it’s that personal information is dangerous and should be shared precisely and with caution.

He half laughs. “Look who’s guarding Family secrets now. You’re becoming more of a Strategia by the minute.”

“It’s not that I’m not going to tell you,” I say. “I plan to tell you. I just haven’t made sense of it all myself yet.” I pause. “Besides, aren’t you more worried about getting Layla out of the dungeon?”

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re related,” he says. “And just because I don’t flaunt my emotions doesn’t mean I’m not worried. You know that.” He leans back and shifts his weight. His voice has a tightness to it, like I’ve offended him.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” I say. “I’m just on edge and I can feel that we’re running out of time. I mean, how long do you think it’s going to be before someone tries to kill me again? Tonight? Felix is still out there. Brendan. God knows who else is part of this.”

Ash takes a breath. “Understood.”

I crack my knuckles. “What about Aarya?”

“What about her?” Ash says.

“Felix is likely involved. But something tells me that Aarya isn’t, at least not the same way. In fact, from everything I’ve seen of her interactions with Brendan, I’d guess she hates the Lions.” I pause, considering the situation. “And then there’s Ines,” I say.

Ash looks at me like he’s not sure where I’m going with this, or maybe he is but he doesn’t like it.

“The Lions are killing off the top students, right? And Ines is one of the best. She’s also Aarya’s closest friend. Won’t Aarya want to protect her best friend? Maaaybe we can convince her to take a stand with us, help us get a grip on what she knows about this whole situation,” I say.