We victors were then treated to a banquet in our honor, back in what served as the compound’s mess hall. The seven of us were seated at one table, while the seasoned Warriors filled others. Personally, I would’ve preferred a shower, but at least I got the chance to sit by Eddie again. He and I grinned and nodded over our plates of ribs as the others relived key moments from the earlier matches and talked about how we were “totally” going to annihilate real vampires. Most of the others seemed impressed by what I’d done to Caleb and got a good chuckle out of it. He, however, clearly wasn’t amused. Throughout the meal, he shot several dark looks over to where Eddie and I sat, and I hoped I wouldn’t regret my last-minute save in the arena.

After lunch, the Warriors decided they’d tested our pen-chant for brutality enough—for now, at least—and that it was time to see what kind of personalities we had. We were called one by one to come speak to the high masters and a select group of Warriors about our intentions going forward. They brought us in by alphabetical order, meaning I went before Eddie and wasn’t able to get any sort of warning of what was to come. This, at least, was pretty consistent from year to year, and Sabrina had briefed us on what to expect: mostly a lot of interrogation during which we’d affirm how much we hated vampires.

What I wasn’t expecting was how much it would remind me of re-education.

Once I was seated in front of the masters and all-male council, they directed my attention to a large screen hanging on the wall. An image of happy, ordinary-looking Moroi appeared.

“What do you see?” asked Master Angeletti.

My heart caught in my throat, and suddenly, I was back in that underground prison, strapped into a chair with Sheridan’s pretty but cruel face gazing down at me.

“What do you see, Sydney?”

“Moroi, ma’am.”

“Wrong. You see creatures of evil.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they are. I’d have to know more about these particular Moroi.”

“You don’t need to know anything except what I’ve told you. They are creatures of evil.”

And then she’d tortured me, dipping my hand an acidic solution that felt like it was burning my flesh off, forcing me to endure the pain until I would finally agree with her and repeat that they were creatures of evil. The memory was so intense, so vivid as I sat there with the Warriors that my skin started to crawl again. The room felt like it was closing in, becoming a prison just as re-education had been, and I worried I would faint in front of them.