“Teaching me to use it only as a last resort ended with me being knocked out for over an hour last night. I should’ve used it immediately, and that turned out to be a major weakness this other Trueborn picked up on immediately,” I told him. “Now I have to undo years of being taught to do everything else before I use my grace. You were wrong.”

Thierry didn’t respond for a long moment and when he did, the remorse in his voice was as thick as the frustration I felt. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have forced you to go against your nature, even if that nature could turn.”

Leaning against a concrete wall, I adjusted my new pair of sunglasses. The arms were loose, so they kept slipping down my nose.

“I feel like we’re loitering,” I said. We were waiting for Roth, and I guessed Layla, to join us, near the corner of the street that led to the school.

“Probably because we’re technically doing just that,” Zayne responded.

I looked at him as I toyed with the tail of the thick braid I’d managed to weave before leaving the apartment. He was standing a foot or two from the wall, dressed as if he was going patrolling, as was I, even though I wasn’t supposed to be engaging in anything. Luckily, Zayne had had the sense to find my blades and bring them back. They were attached to my hips, but if push came to shove, I wasn’t going to use them.

Not anymore.

I sighed, shifting my weight from one foot to the next. I’d told Zayne about my call on the drive over here. He’d been just as dumbstruck as I had been.

Could I become evil?

That question kept popping into my mind. Every time it did, I thought about the other Trueborn, and I thought about what I’d done.

What I knew I was capable of.

Nervous energy buzzed through my veins as I tried to shove those thoughts aside.

Zayne looked at me, his features fuzzy in a ray of sunlight. “What are you thinking about?”

The bond between us was as convenient as it was obnoxious. “I was trying not to think about what Thierry told me.”

He faced me. “You’re not evil, Trin. You’re never going to go evil.”

I appreciated his faith in me, especially after everything that had gone down between us. “I don’t know if I should be worried you knew exactly what I was thinking.”

“You shouldn’t be worried you’ll end up like the other Trueborn.”

A mail truck rumbled past us. “The thing is, we don’t know anything about this Trueborn and why he’s doing what he’s doing, but I... I killed that witch.”

“The witch who betrayed us and was responsible for the deaths of countless humans.” He moved closer.