I don’t flinch. I don’t let on for a second that I’m continuing to hear everything that’s in her head. It’s a standoff of sorts, until Levi steps up next to me, and I can feel the outrage radiating off his every cell. It’s sexy as hell, but I don’t need him defending me.

“Don’t,” I say to him. “She’s not worth it.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” says a voice, and we all turn, surprised, to see a figure standing in the doorway. It’s Jane. My mind is spinning. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a teacher, or any adult at all, stop by a midnight session. “Harlowe Shaw, Ivy Li, and Graham Rosen? Please come with me,” Jane says with authority.

Harlowe’s eyes flit to Graham’s and then Ivy’s. They seem as surprised as she is.

“What for?” Harlowe asks.

“A student videoed the three of you hanging that sign on the cafeteria door,” Jane explains, crossing her arms over her chest. “As you know, that kind of display of intolerance is not to be abided at Darkwood. Not while I’m in charge. Maude? Is this meeting dismissed?”

Maude can barely contain her smile. “It is now.”

Harlowe and her cohorts grumble as they file out of the Tower Room, following Jane.

“Should we go now?” Sophie asks. Willa twists her hair awkwardly. These two may have a moral compass, but they could use some confidence.

“You’re dismissed too,” Maude answers. Sophie and Willa leave.

The rest of us try to process what just happened.

“Who recorded the video from the cafeteria?” Pippa asks.

I shrug. “Someone who really wanted to see those kids put in their place. Nice work, whoever you are.”

“Emma—what did you mean by footage of Tessa?” Theodora asks. “And my college apps?”

I twist my hands in the fabric of my shirt. It’s now or never, I guess.

“I read Harlowe’s thoughts,” I say briskly, wanting to say this before I chicken out. “It’s happened before,” I explain quickly, “but never on purpose. The first time was the night she locked you up in the pump house. That’s how I knew you were there. Tonight, I was so, I don’t know, angry, I willed myself to hear what she was thinking. And it wasn’t good,” I add. I explain more about how she’s planning to derail Theodora and Maude’s college apps with “evidence” that they aren’t the shining students they purport to be. Mine too.

“This is what Gravelle always talked about,” Pippa speaks up.

“What is?” I press.