Bee was right against the back wall of the theater now, a giant fake oak tree blocking her path.

She turned to face me, wearing an expression I’d never seen before. One that, to be honest, I never would have thought Bee was even capable of. She was practically snarling.

“I trusted you.” It was the only thing I could think to say, the only words that seemed to be pounding inside my head, and they hurt coming out of my mouth. They hurt maybe more than anything else I’d ever said. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t have been wrong. Not about Bee.

“Trust me now, Harper,” she choked out in reply. “This is the only way.”

I reached out and yanked a branch off the fake tree. The crack was probably loud enough to be heard in the audience, but I didn’t care. “By letting the Ephors take David? That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You’re working for Alexander.”

Bee reached out and did the same with another branch, and we stood there facing each other, fake branches clutched in our hands, both of us breathing hard.

“I’m not working for them,” Bee said, her fingers tight around that branch. “It isn’t about Alexander or any of that, Harper, I swear, but you can’t go to him. I can’t let you.”

“He’s in danger,” I cried, my chest seizing even as I said the words.

Nodding, Bee gripped her branch harder. “He might be, yeah. But I promised him I’d let him do this.”

The words landed harder than her blows had. “What?”

“I promised David,” she said, and I felt like my head was spinning. “He knew you’d never let him leave, knew you’d fight to keep him here. But this—” She clutched the branch harder, and I saw tears start to pool in her eyes. “This is what’s actually best for him.” Her voice had turned pleading now. “Please, Harper, don’t make me do this.”

Out onstage, I could hear Sara announcing the beginning of the talent portion of the pageant. The stereo system was blasting some kind of terrible smooth jazz, but even that couldn’t drown out the rush of blood in my ears as I faced down Bee. I knew what she meant. We were both protecting David, albeit in different ways. My Paladin instincts weren’t going to quit until the threat—Bee—was eliminated. Bee wouldn’t stop until she’d fulfilled whatever vow it was she’d made to David.

“Nothing bad is going to happen to him,” Bee said.

“That’s a lie,” I cried, “because I wouldn’t feel like this if he were going to be fine.”

Bee shook her head, hard enough that her blond hair began to spill out of her updo. “It’s the only way.”