She smirks, and I instantly realize coming to her was a mistake. I should have known she wouldn’t believe me, and I can’t help feeling foolish and vulnerable standing in front of her. I straighten. I don’t know what to do with my hands.

“I want to know where my Chest is,” I say, not exactly in a confident voice, but not in a timid one either.

“What Chest?”

“You know exactly what Chest!”

“What makes you think I held on to that old thing?” she asks calmly.

“Because you would be turning against your own people if you didn’t,” I say.

She reopens her Bible and pretends to read. I think of leaving, but then my mind returns to the boot prints in the snow.

“Where is it?” I ask.

She continues to ignore me, so I reach out with my mind and feel the contours of the book, its thin, dusty pages, its rough-hewn cover. I snap the book shut. Adelina jumps.

“Tell me where it is.”

“How dare you! Who do you think you are?”

“I’m a member of the Garde, and the fate of the entire race of Loriens depends on my survival, Adelina! How could you turn your back on them? How could you turn your back on the humans, too? John Smith, who I believe is a member of the Garde, is on the run in the United States; and when he was pulled over recently he was able to move the officer without touching him. Just like I can do. Like I just did with your book. Don’t you see what’s happening, Adelina? If we don’t start helping, not only will Lorien be lost forever, but so will Earth and this stupid orphanage and stupid town!”

“How dare you call this place stupid!” Adelina steps towards me with clenched fists. “This is the only place that let us in, Marina. It’s the only reason we’re still alive. What did the Loric do for us? They pushed us onto a ship for a year, and then they pushed us out onto a cruel planet without any kind of plan or any instructions other than to stay hidden and train. Train for what?”

“To defeat the Mogadorians. To take back Lorien.” I shake my head. “The others are probably out there right now, battling, figuring out how to come together and how to get us home, while we’re stuck in this prison doing nothing.”

“I’m living my life with purpose, helping the human race with my prayers and service. And you should be, too.”

“Your sole purpose on Earth was to help me.”

“You’re alive, aren’t you?”

“Only in the literal sense of the word, Adelina.”

She sits back in her chair and opens the Bible on her lap. “Lorien is dead and buried, Marina. What does it matter?”