Conner recorks the poison and moves quickly to his desk.

“Well now, y’all are havin’ a party and ya didn’t even invite me?” Aarya says in a terrible cowboy accent as she drops down from above the doorway. She leans against the open door as if she doesn’t have a care in the world.

Conner runs his hand under his desk.

“Looking for this?” Aarya asks, and twirls a knife in her hand.

Conner’s jaw tightens. “You don’t want to pick this fight, Aarya,” he says. “There are people in this school you don’t want to lose.”

Aarya nods. “You’re right. I don’t want to pick this fight.” She pulls back her arm, but instead of throwing the knife at Conner, she turns and throws it at me. I gasp as it lodges in the arm of the chair, close enough for me to slide the zip tie on my left wrist along its blade and snap it.

“But she does,” Aarya says.

Conner darts toward Ash. I grab the knife and quickly slice through the remaining restraints. I stand unsteadily, knife in hand, as Conner grabs Ash’s jaw, forcing his mouth open and letting the bottle hover over his lips.

“Think carefully, November,” Conner says. “You won’t get to make this choice again.”

I focus on Conner.

“Is it really worth it if you also kill Ashai in the process?” Conner says, like suddenly he’s a reasonable person.

“November, throw it,” Aarya says.

Don’t fight like them, November, fight like you.

I exhale and slowly drop the knife. It falls to the stone floor with the grip resting on the toe of my boot.

Aarya moves forward.

“Stop, Aarya,” I say with force, and she does.

Conner looks at me like I’m a complete idiot. “Maybe you were right. I have no idea how we could possibly be related.” He tips the poison into Ash’s mouth and squeezes a hand over his mouth and nose, forcing him to swallow.

“No!” I scream.

Ash coughs and gasps on the floor. Conner stands just as I slam my foot down on the broad side of the knife blade, flipping it into the air, where I snatch it by the handle and throw it so fast Conner doesn’t even have a chance to take a step toward me. It’s a clean shot and lodges deeply just below his shoulder.

His eyes widen and he takes one stumbling step. I run at him and dive for his knees, tackling him to the floor. His back hits the stone hard and he groans. Aarya is by my side in a second. She pins Conner down.

I grab the poison bottle from the floor near Ash, who looks like he’s in untold pain.

“Now you get to choose,” I say to Conner. “Live or die?” And I pour what’s left of the poison into his mouth.

I yank the knife out of his chest and he fights back a scream.

“Let go of him, Aarya,” I say, and she looks unsure but does it anyway.