He runs his hand through his floppy hair, making it even more floppy. “Yeah, so, I just wanted you to know how much I value your friendship.”

“Oh. Thank you. I mean… you too.”

That was so… sweet. So why does it hurt so much?

“I’ll just…” He motions forward and then, with a last smile, heads off in the direction of the bonfire.

I head to my apartment, and when I enter, I hear Georgie humming in her room. I guess she’s not going to the bonfire either.

With everything going on, Georgie and I have hardly seen each other, and she’s seemed more than happy to keep her distance. But she showed up for me at the game today and has been a consistently amazing friend. I owe her better. Now’s the perfect time to finally speak to her. To explain that everything with Rafe is fake. Which is absolutely still true.

I’m hesitant as I knock at Georgie’s door, but she eagerly shoos me in. She’s excited about something enough that she seems to have forgotten we’ve been awkward with each other for days.

“Congratulations on your match!” She has the harp and rose of the Artisan emblem painted on one cheek and the Alchemist emblem––for me, despite everything––on her other cheek. “It was totally awesome, but there’s something I want you to see. Come look!” She claps to herself. “Cicero—”

“The guy who runs the conspiracy forum?”

“Yes!” She’s as giddy as the time Hera Earhart complimented her bow tie. “Except he isn’t a guy! I don’t know why I just assumed, but his—I mean her, I checked her pronouns—her identity was so well hidden, it took me ages to track her down. Look, this is Cicero.” Georgie gesticulates to her monitor, which has a photo of an Asian girl with thick round glasses and half of her hair shaved off. The haircut is new, but I’d recognize her anywhere. My heart swells with missing her.

“Izzy King,” I say. Nothing should surprise me anymore. But there always seems to be at least one more thing.

“You know her?” Georgie jumps up from her chair. “How? What are the chances?”

Well, now that I realize who Cicero is, the chances actually make a lot of sense. All this knowledge about the Makers? It’s more surprising that I hadn’t already considered Cicero might have connections to the Families.

“She’s an old family friend.”

“This girl knows computers, already knows we exist, and she’s cute. Can you, like, introduce us?”

“She’s a family friend.” I emphasize the word “family” for meaning. “And these days she works for Oz Tech with Nora Montaigne.”

“Oh.” Georgie’s eyebrows gradually rise as understanding dawns. “So that’s how she knows… stuff.”