I take the three flights slowly, my body more bruised and achy than it was even half an hour ago. And when I reach Blackwood’s office, two guards stand outside her arched door. One of them opens it for me, but neither guard follows me in. Blackwood must want total privacy, and I don’t blame her, considering her role in all of this.

The familiar smell of woodsmoke fills the air. I take a seat in the armchair just like I did my very first day, and I find myself blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. “Did you try to send me messages through some of my instructors?”

Blackwood raises an eyebrow and considers me. “I may have suggested a few lessons to help you acclimate.”

I would laugh at that tempered answer, but I’m too pooped and sore to muster a laugh. “And when Matteo punched—”

Blackwood cuts me off. “Now, I know you have questions, and truthfully, you are entitled to ask them. However, please do me the favor of listening first.” She leans back in her chair.

I thought that tonight would have softened her toward me, but she’s just as formal as ever. I quietly nod my agreement.

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.”