“If you think you can stop Conner when even Blackwood can’t stop him, then you’re completely unhinged,” Aarya interjects. “This Pollyanna cluelessness is getting old. Find a new act.”

My eyes widen. Conner? For a moment I’m speechless, considering I was about to say that Conner had warned me about trusting anyone. But that’s not what Aarya’s saying at all—she’s suggesting that Conner’s in league with the Lions. I mean, if some of the faculty members were trying to send me warning signals, others—like Conner—might have had altogether different, maybe even malicious intentions. I look at Aarya, wondering if she could possibly be telling me the truth. Conner was helping to inspect swords the day Nyx tried to skewer me. And the day that Charles stood accused at the assembly, I swear Conner looked at me like I was to blame. In fact, when I stop to think about it, he’s somehow been involved with everything that has gone wrong since I got here. The weight of the realization shakes me.

“Oh, great, now I have to suffer through waiting until you piece together what a shit Conner is?” Aarya sounds like she might push me off the sky bench. “Let’s get on with this. You say Felix tried to kill you. Then what’s the reason? There must be a reason.”

I don’t hesitate. “Revenge. Felix’s father was sent to assassinate my parents and my parents killed him.”

Aarya snorts. “That’s not a reason—everyone knows the risk they’re taking when they’re sent to assassinate someone. I find it hard to believe that Felix would help the Lions because his father failed at his duty.” She sounds angry. She watches me and licks her lips. “No, I think there’s more.”

I do everything I can to appear calm.

“There’s something you don’t want me to know,” she says, and tilts her head, like she’s trying to see me from different angles. “Felix knows who you really are, doesn’t he? And it must be something terrible, otherwise you wouldn’t be here trying to make ridiculous deals with me.”

For an awful second, I blank on what to say. I haven’t even had time to process this myself.

“Nailed it!” she says. “I have to admit I’m a little miffed he kept his discovery from me. But I’m sure that can be corrected.” She stands and turns.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Wait,” I say, and I grab her arm, even though I know it’s a bad idea. She whips around and shoves me back into the tree trunk, grabbing my wrist and twisting it, sending shooting pain up my arm. I know that if I try to get free of her grip or fight her, Ash will be here in a second and my opportunity to talk to Aarya will disappear.