I blink up at him. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I couldn’t be positive that you having abilities would be enough for the heretics to recruit you. They needed to think you were in danger. And the rest of the Inner Chamber had to be convinced you were at risk so they’d agree to send you away.”

He not only didn’t tell me about it, but he was the one who planned the whole thing.

I look to my mom for some kind of explanation.

“No one outside of the Oculus knew about the abductions until recently. Most of the other Sires came willingly,” my mother explains quietly. “So your abduction seemed like an external threat to the rest of us.”

I don’t even have words. I’ve known Kor for so long, and this is so far from anything I can imagine him doing, but so is drinking a young girl’s blood. There’s not enough room inside me to contain so much shock and confusion.

I saw something I wasn’t supposed to.

That’s what Izzy’s message had said. But whatever she saw, it wasn’t at Oz Tech. It was with the Families. Whatever it was made her want to leave the order, and she’d tried to protect me from them too.

I hope that wherever she is, she’s safe.

“Please understand.” Kor’s expression is genuinely contrite. “I did this for you, not just for the Families. Everything has worked out better than we could have hoped. I’m sorry you were afraid and hurt. I will never forgive myself for your scars.” He grabs the cross at his neck, squeezing it in his fist. “But I’m also glad it worked.”

I just shake my head, at a loss for how to respond to so great a betrayal from one of the people I love most in the world.

“You will forgive me,” he insists with the conviction of someone who always gets his way. “You’ll go back to get more information from the heretics, and together we’ll bring radical change to the world. Then you’ll realize it was all worth it and forgive me.” His tone is confident, but his eyes are pleading.

“You need to leave, Ada,” my mother says. “The entire Inner Chamber was alerted about the breach, and they won’t all want to let you go.” I follow her, turning my back on Kor without saying goodbye.

Mom leads me with a flashlight to the area of shore where Rafe’s waiting. When we’re almost there, I second-guess myself and stop walking.

“This doesn’t feel right. I thought the Families were good.”

“It’s not so simple. And many in the Families are not okay with what has been happening here.”

“Then should we even be helping them? Or should we be stopping them?”