Blackwood folds her hands over her lap. “Your father contacted me when your aunt was murdered, looking to secure an immediate safe house for you.”

My heart sinks. When Conner relayed the news that Aunt Jo was dead, a part of me wondered if it had happened just then or if it had occurred earlier. And if she was killed before I was admitted, that explains why Dad gave me no warning, no chance to say goodbye to Emily or my other friends. He must have been on high alert the entire time, wondering just how fast he could get us out of there before someone descended on our house. I shudder at the thought of Strategia in Pembrook, and even though I’ve considered it before as an awful possibility, the idea has just graduated to an insistent fear.

“As I told you when you first arrived, we do not typically admit students your age. But with you, nothing is typical. We’ve made exceptions in the past for the children of leading families, and even though you have no formal standing as yet among the Strategia, you fit that qualification in two Families, not one.”

I swallow. I was so convinced I didn’t belong here that I hadn’t really considered who I might be in the Strategia hierarchy.

“Did my dad know his brother was—”

Blackwood gives me a look and I close my mouth. “Your father and I made a deal. I told him his brother was working here and my suspicions about his involvement in several student deaths. In exchange for your protection, he agreed that you would assist in flushing Dr. Conner out—under my guidance, of course.”

I shake my head, scarcely able to process what she just said. “Whoa, hold on. That is one hundred percent not the reason I thought I got in here. My dad made a deal that I would flush out Conner? What was the point of sending me here for protection if I was just going to be exposed to a different kind of danger?”

“I can’t speak for your father,” Blackwood says. “But what I will say is that you were more than up to the task. You not only confirmed my suspicions about Dr. Conner, you exposed his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. And of course, you know our policy for grievances committed against another person.”

I would respond to that, but I have no words. An eye for an eye. Which means as punishment Conner is now…and I was the one who…I can’t wrap my mind around it. Conner was a threat, I know that. But I threw the knife and the rest…Well, I suppose only Blackwood and the guards know the details.

And I don’t even know where to begin with the way Blackwood and my dad apparently see me—as one of them, as Strategia.

“Your father was always exceptionally good at reading people, and while you may lack skill in that area, I not only see what he sees in you, I think you have hidden talents that haven’t even surfaced yet.”