"Fuck the legacies. I don't want their privilege. I have no interest in winning."

I raise an eyebrow. "I heard they get comfier beds, though."

"Comfy beds. Lighter class schedules. Favoritism from Empire.” His lip curls slightly. Yes, they get it all. And the only cost is being a dog on someone's fucking leash. I'll pass."

"That, at least, is something we can both agree on."

"I want you to try to win the Crucible."

I squint at him. "You just said fuck the privileges of being a legacy."

"For me. Malakai wouldn't be able to touch you if you were a legacy. Not even he would dare. Raith's voice drops lower, more intense. They won't admit it aloud, but Confluence protects legacies like they're royalty. Nobody here wants their primal parents and grandparents showing up asking why their child was killed. Honorary legacy or not, you'd be safe if you were one of them."

I fold my arms. "So I'm just some fragile princess you want to protect? Put me in the gilded tower where all the privileges and connections in the world can keep me safe?"

My comment earns a rare smile from Raith. "Fragile princess? Fuck, no. You're deadly, Nessa. You've proven that several times over. But you don't realize what you're up against. This is bigger than Confluence. It's bigger than Malakai and Serena. Becoming a legacy would dramatically improve your chances of surviving to graduate your fifth year."

"Will a siphon care if I'm a legacy or not before it tries to drain me?"

Something dark passes over his eyes. "No. But the training we're doing. That might help you against one of them."

"Typhon could handle one, right?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure. Siphons are extremely powerful. They can summon a kind of void elemental. Its bite can be deadly to elementals, just like a siphon's touch can drain the life of a human. If you find yourself against a siphon, all I want you to think about is running. Do whatever you can to get away."

"And what will you do if you find one?" I hate that part of me is watching and listening to his reaction so closely—that some part of me is actually wondering if Raith is a siphon himself. Even if it feels like a stretch, it would at least explain why he's so adamant that I can't know the truth about him.

"I'll fucking kill it."

The pure venom and hatred in his voice almost convinces me there's no way he's a siphon. That, and his tether with Pyrin. I can’t say for certain, but I’ve never heard of siphons being able to tether elementals in any old stories.

"I've got to get back to the fire tower," Raith says suddenly. "I'm trying to train them up as much as I can before the Crucible."

"Why do they all treat you like some kind of leader? Even the original aspirants seem to look up to you."