I shake my head. “You can’t, Ash. It has to be me. You don’t see her the way I do.”

“No, I don’t,” he says, and he’s getting more frustrated by the minute. “I see her for exactly who she is. I can read her. I’ve known her for years. I’ve seen people go up against her over and over, and she always wins because she’s ruthless and because she’s talented. You’re too forgiving. You’re too trusting. Layla warned you that you weren’t good enough to go up against Aarya, and I’m telling you that meeting her in the trees after dark is a fast way to get yourself killed.”

I take a deep breath, willing myself to be calm. “I know you think all that, which is exactly why I have to be the one to talk to her. I’m not saying there’s not a risk, but if there’s even a slim possibility that she has information we need, this can’t wait,” I say. “I get that you’re trying to protect me, and I appreciate it. But I have to do this.”

“Seeing Aarya in a more forgiving light isn’t a reason,” he says.

“Blackwood had me in her office when she punished Layla for no reason that I can tell other than to give me information about the glass and the match,” I say. “And—”

“You’re saying you think Blackwood is trying to help you? Why would she lock up my sister to help you? She’s toying with you,” Ash says.

“Helping or toying—it really doesn’t make a difference. The point is that she gave me information. And Blackwood’s not the only one. That guard who protected me. Kartal and Hisakawa. They all said things that directly related to the murder and the situation with me and Matteo. And in Kartal’s last class, she said something about taking people for granted. Not in the typical sense, but in the way that if you see people as ruthless and vicious, you can’t unsee them behaving that way. She said sometimes having a fresh perspective on a person is the only way to influence change. If you ask me, that sounds like Aarya,” I finish.

Ash is quiet for a long time, and emotions dance in his eyes like lights on a pond. “So let me get this straight. You’re going to risk your life because you think your teachers are giving you hidden messages in their classes?”

“Yes. Exactly. And if I were anyone else, you wouldn’t doubt what I was saying. You’re only questioning me because I wasn’t raised the way you were. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. So if you won’t deliver my note, I will,” I say, and hold out my hand so he can give the note back to me.

His eyes flash anger. “You know she’s not going to come alone,” he says. “So even if by some miracle Aarya doesn’t try to kill you, someone else might.”

“I know,” I say. “That’s why I chose the trees—they’re my best terrain. It’s the only advantage I can give myself. Well, that and I could really use you there with me.”