“I’m sorry it’s coming out this way.” Daphne’s forehead knots, her voice thinning with nerves. “I’d hoped that nothing would happen—that you’d pass algebra and never have to know anything about me at all. But the Brotherhood has been aware of those prophecies for generations, and they always meant to place someone on the inside. When it became clear that you were the vessel, they sent me in.” Hugging herself, she adds, “Everyone who wears the emblem of Perseus pledges their life to guard humankind against supernatural dangers. The point wasn’t to trick you, Auggie, it was to protect you. The only reason the Syndicate is interested is because they’re hoping the legends are true, and that they can somehow control the Corrupter when it Ascends!”

“You’ve been lying to me.” My voice is still broken, and more hot tears slip down my cheeks. “For months. How am I supposed to believe you?”

“I’m sorry, Auggie,” she repeats, her tone soft and small. “I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand that I would never hurt you.” Daphne looks me in the eye as she says it, snowflakes feathering her lashes. “Part of the reason I came here was to keep the Syndicate from shutting you away in some secret laboratory where you’d be experimented on. If there’s any way to stop this prophecy from coming true, the Brotherhood will find it.”

“So you think it’s real.” A frigid wind gusts across the parking lot, cutting through the fabric of my coat. “Inside you acted like it was a hoax, but now you’re talking about trying to stop it—so all of this is bullshit. The only thing you’re really here to make sure of is that the Syndicate won’t turn into a bunch of unkillable day-walkers who can extend the same power to, like, seventy-five percent of the world’s vampires.”

Daphne’s jaw shifts, and she rolls her shoulders. “All right. Touché. Six months ago, maybe the main thing I cared about was … well, that. But I’m not your enemy, Auggie. Just because I agreed to come here and, and…”

“And insinuate yourself into my life under false pretenses,” I supply coldly.

“And watch over you,” she amends, “doesn’t mean I believe that the Corrupter is anything more than a fantasy—”

“Bullshit!” I shout loud enough that Daphne glances around to see if we’re overheard. We’re probably fifty yards from the mall’s entrance, standing in an empty space between an SUV and a compact car, all alone with a bunch of lies and secrets and possibly one slowly metastasizing parasitic entity trying to take over my entire fucking body. “Stop bullshitting me!”