He tilts his head at me, then shrugs. "A woman of mystery. I can respect that. Anyway, yeah. Every elemental will ask its primal to swear oaths. It varies based on the personality of your elemental. An oath of truth. An oath of revenge. Whatever. But if you break that oath?" He draws a finger across his throat.

He scoops up one of my books. "What's got you so interested in all this anyway?" He squints at the spine of the book, grinning. "Fanciful Tales for Young Girls?"

I blush, snatching the book from his hands. "Old stories sometimes hide truths others want to keep buried."

That earns a raised brow from Ambrose. "Now that, I can agree with. You want hidden truths?" His voice drops even lower. "I've got one you don't need to go searching in books for. I heard more whispers about Malakai seen scheming with Serena multiple times. But you know what's weird?"

"What?"

"I heard both of them got called in to meet with Voss."

I feel a faint blossoming of hope. "You think he's shutting them down?"

"Hard to say. Let's hope so, though. I frankly don't know if they're planning to keep any of us alive before Confluence Day.”

A chill creeps down my spine, because my friends and I have avoided his focus so far, but how much longer can that last? Especially now that he's working with Serena. How long before she whispers in his ear that he should kill me?

"Well," Ambrose says, smiling out of one side of his mouth. "There's someone I met last week. Someone who may have invited me to meet for a romantic stroll across the castle walls tonight. So if you don’t mind…”

I chuckle. "Alright. At least some of us are getting laid."

"Not yet, but fingers are crossed," Ambrose says over his shoulder as he leaves.

It's only a minute before movement makes me look up.

A tall figure slips into view, blonde hair and black uniform instantly marking him.

"Bastian?" I ask.

He approaches slowly, barely making a sound as his eyes fall to the books. "I apologize for the delay. I know it must be difficult operating in the dark. How are you holding up?”

All I can do is stare as he sits down across from me, hand clutching something within his black uniform trimmed in silver and gold. His nearly-white eyes seem to see straight through me, but there’s sympathy in his face. I think he might really feel bad for taking so long—that he might actually care how I’ve been doing.

“I’m alive,” I say with a shrug.

His smile is grim. “That’s most important. Yes.” When he pulls his hand from his uniform, he’s clutching a small, leather bound book. At a glance, it looks completely unassuming, but I lick my lips, fighting the urge to snatch it from his hands and start devouring it from cover to cover.