"I expect many things too," Raith says, his tone just as mild but with an edge beneath it. "Like the assurance that a siphon won't attack students under your protection. We all have our disappointments."

I realize something as Raith speaks. Some of the cockiness and cold confidence I've always sensed in him all makes more sense now that I know who he was. Who he is.

A prince who never was. Heir to a throne he never claimed. Lone survivor of a royal family. I want to ask him where he’s from. It must be one of the outlying islands, or I feel sure I would’ve heard of him before now. But his past is something I have to approach carefully and cautiously. It’s full of pain, and I don’t want to cause him any more hurt than he has already suffered.

Voss turns then, his pale eyes taking in Raith without surprise. "Mr. Hollow. You should be dead."

"I get that a lot."

"Yes, I imagine you do. Your survival speaks to the potency of Miss Thorne's healing abilities. Quite remarkable." Voss's gaze shifts to me, assessing. On the surface, he looks as calm and collected as ever. And yet... I sense something else behind his eyes. Something like desperation. Or maybe impatience? "How are you recovering, Nessa?"

"Well enough," I say, matching his careful neutrality. "Though I was hoping you wanted to talk to us about the siphon. Maybe to assure us we don't need to worry about it happening again."

"Perhaps you'd both care to sit? This may be a lengthy conversation."

He gestures to two chairs before his desk, waiting until we're seated before taking his own position opposite us. The deliberate courtesy doesn't escape me, nor does the fact that he's positioned himself with the light behind him, making his expressions harder to read.

"I'll be direct," Voss says, folding his hands before him. "I know more about the siphon situation than I've previously shared. I believe there could be more than one siphon within Confluence's walls. How many, though, I can't say for certain."

"And you're just now telling us this?" Raith's voice is dangerously quiet.

Voss raises an eyebrow. "I am telling you now, as a courtesy. There was no need for you to know before."

"No need—" Raith begins, but I place a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Why tell us at all?" I ask. "Why not the Empire Council? Or the instructors? Why us specifically?"

Voss studies me, his expression impossible to decipher. "Whoever else knows is irrelevant. I’m sharing this now because I believe you, Miss Thorne, could be the reason they're here."

The words land like ice in my veins. "No. It said it was only using me as bait to get to Raith."