He pulls a thin chain from under his shirt, absently toying with the pendant. It’s a silver cross entwined with a gold vine. The emblem of the Families. It belonged to Aragon, Kor’s father, before he died. “My father was a member of the Oculus.”

That makes sense. I know Aragon was very high-ranking in the Families, and Kor has always strived to follow in his footsteps. Though I can’t ignore the pang I feel knowing that Kor has kept this from me for so long. I suppose I can’t blame him, as I only recently told him about my abilities. We all have our secrets.

Kor gets back down to business. “To the rest of the Families, your mission will be reconnaissance only. In actuality, we hope to be able to rely on you for more practical matters.”

Of course, I haven’t been consulted about any of this. Do I even want to go to Genesis if I’m supposed to lie and steal from them?

Kor, as always, can read my mind. He squeezes my shoulders. “Ada, there is so much humankind is capable of, unknown potential buried in our genetics, untapped and untrained. Instead, we’re living half-lives.” There’s a flash of anger in his eyes now. “I don’t understand why the exiles have been so selfish until now. I really don’t. Just the Sire abilities and medical science alone—we’re slaves to viruses and disease, but not them. There’s so much suffering that could be mitigated.”

I’d asked Michael why the Makers hadn’t shared their medical knowledge, and his answer had been vague. If they do have the information that the Families claim, then I know Kor is right.

Kor sniffs, then sniffs again. He releases my shoulders and swipes his knuckles under his nose. They come away streaked with blood. He groans in annoyance as he pulls tissues from his pocket and tips his head back to stem the flow.

“You’re still getting those?” He’d told me his nosebleeds had stopped.

“They cabe back a few weeks ago,” he explains, his voice coming out distorted as he keeps his nose pinched shut. “Dr. Ambrose said it’s norbal frob all the stress, with planning the charity bedefit at the sabe time as studying for biterms. That’s why we postponed the album release tour.”

Because Kor is the type of guy who works himself until he’s sick, and then when something has to give, he deprioritizes his entire career to give all of his focus to his charity work and his commitment to the Families.

Meanwhile, I’m here whining about not being sure I’m ready to give the bare minimum.