I step back onto the metal platform and find Shura skipping toward me like she has news.

“You are going to need another outfit,” she sings when she reaches me. “It turns out Theo’s freak-out was a gift from the stars. Mom got word Prince Caelan is having a meeting with his Legion Guards to discuss a change in their security methods leading up to the Night of the Falling Star.”

I frown. “How is that a good thing?” If anything, an emergency change means more guards. I know I’m still new to this career path, but I’m pretty sure spies fare better when they aren’t under scrutiny.

“Because now we can make sure we’re in the room when the meeting takes place,” Shura explains excitedly. “We can learn exactly where every guard is going to be, at the exact time they’re going to be there.”

“Does Prince Caelan often invite random strangers to sit in during his security meetings?” I ask, words laced with sarcasm.

“O ye of little faith.” Shura shakes her head. “You don’t need to literally be in the meeting. All you need to do is plant this little device in the council room, and we can take care of the rest from the Colony.” She lifts her palm to reveal an object no bigger than a button, matte black in color.

I pick it up, rotating it in my fingers. “You’ll be able to hear everything that’s going on?”

“It’s got cameras in it too,” Shura says. “Ahmet invented them not long before you got here. They’re spread out all over the districts, but this is the first time we’ll be able to get one inside the palace.”

I feel my chest tighten. They’re sending me on another job. Trusting me with another mission.

Things didn’t exactly go smoothly last time, but they weren’t terrible, either. Maybe with more practice, and confidence, I could even be good at playing this game.

But lots of people are good at things they don’t necessarily enjoy. I’m gathering information because it’s the best way to make sure humans have a future, not because I enjoy lying. If anything, I hate it. It makes me feel like an imposter. A fraud.

My mind drifts to the Winter Keep. To Martin. And I can’t help but wonder if lying would be easier if I were chasing a different cause.

Maybe that’s how we justify our lies. They’re horrible, unacceptable things, until they benefit us in some way. Then we make excuses for them.

Maybe we’re all liars—to ourselves most of all.

“The meeting is tomorrow afternoon, but you can visit the palace in the morning, when Prince Caelan is meeting with the Capital Chancellors in the Winter District,” she adds.

“How do you know all this?”