“No.” Better to keep my mind busy with practicalities, so I change the subject. “Who could have given them the knowledge to create a false Sire?” I’d filled Rafe in on Kor’s illness and his surgery, and I’m more curious than ever who Prometheus might be.

“I honestly have no idea who would do such a thing. But we’ll need to find a way to neutralize the knowledge. Sire abilities are too dangerous in provincial hands.”

Neutralize the knowledge. That can’t mean anything good for my family. Despite everything I witnessed tonight, I don’t want any harm coming to them.

“I don’t understand,” I say to Rafe. “Maker inventions are one thing, but why can’t we teach provincial Sires how to wield Ha’i? They haven’t all been recruited. There are many untrained Sires out there who have no idea what they are or what they could be doing for society. There’s no one forbidding it any longer, so why can’t the knowledge of Sires be reintroduced so the rest of the world can have some advantage?”

“Are you kidding me? Look at what your family did as soon as they learned about Sires. Abducting them and draining their blood—you think that’s the first time something like this has happened? This is what that provincial world does, Ada. Wake up. They can’t accept people being different, and they steal any power there for the taking. They weaponize anything that can be weaponized.”

There’s nothing I can say to this. I look down at my hands, rubbing my scars. My best friend, one of the most benevolent people I have ever known, has done unspeakable things for this power. What if it were in the hands of even less scrupulous people?

I had been so sure that there was someone else involved in all of this, but if the Families abducted me and they now have another informant at Genesis, it’s possible that everything has been them all along. I’m not sure I can stomach that.

“What do you know about Nora Montaigne?” I ask Rafe, still unconvinced that she’s not somehow involved.

“The traitor Leonora de Montaigne? She’s Leonardo’s older sister, a Blood Sci and Cipher master and cousin to the Crown. I despise that family.”

“Is it possible Bram and Leo have been working for her and could be behind some of the information leaks and the thefts?”

“What? No. Leonora would never do anything like that.”

“But you said she’s a traitor?”

“She’s a traitor for choosing to forsake her heritage and live among the philistines. But she’s in constant touch with the Guard and only shares knowledge that they approve for her to share.”

That… is not what I expected. And I find it surprisingly uplifting. “That’s amazing, that there are actually Makers making an effort to help the rest of the world.”