“They told us to clean up. They didn’t say where.” The locks in this place are all different—a hodgepodge of hardware reflecting the time period when each particular section of the Observatory was built and the value of whatever is secured behind it. This lock isn’t sophisticated, more a deterrent than a dead end. I hold the knob and summon what little magic I can to my fingers, heating the metal, before switching hands and infusing it with a blast of cold instead. The knob steams as it freezes over. With a quick press of my thumb, something pops inside and the lock breaks open. The effort leaves me woozy.

Cracking open the door, I peer inside. The pool is dimly lit, green and blue light dancing over the dark ceiling above it. No Guards. No other lights beyond those in the pool and the warm sliver that slips through the door with us.

“But the smazes . . . ,” Kai says, hesitant to follow.

“Relax. They only said the sparring and weight rooms were off-limits. They never said anything about the pool.” We haven’t broken any rules. Not yet.

I shuck off my jumpsuit and perch on the edge of the water in my briefs. Steam rises off the surface, humid and sultry, and the smazes that followed us in shrink away from the heat.

Kai watches as they float up to hover by the vents in the ceiling.

“Relax.” I jerk my chin toward the Winter wraiths. “They won’t get close enough to hear us.”

Warmth rushes over my head as I dive in. My blood feels thick, my bones heavy, the long years I spent as a Winter pushing back against the heat. I break the surface fast, drinking in the cooler air, letting the initial shock pass over me.

When I blink the sting of chlorine from my eyes, Kai’s still standing by the door.

“You were a Summer once, right?” I splash water at her. “What the hell are you waiting for, Sampson?” I wade in deeper, keeping my back to her as she unfastens the buttons of her jumpsuit. The water ripples as she tests the temperature, and I wait for the splash.

There’s a prolonged silence, broken only by the slosh of water against the concrete lip of the pool. “For fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “What’s taking so long? We only have—”

I start as her head breaks the surface beside me, her short hair slicked back around her heart-shaped face.

“Not bad,” I say, surprised she was able to get the jump on me. She’s good. Maybe better than I gave her credit for. “Didn’t see you coming.”

“Maybe you’re just a lousy hunter.” Her chin brushes the surface as she treads water, her eyes darting up to the shadowy mist near the air ducts. “Those things creep me out.”