Sestra finally turns her attention back to the class, freeing me from her scrutiny. "As Miss Thorne helpfully pointed out, we're not interested in encouraging you to kill one another. Our job is to shape you into weapons. Your job is to be worthy if you survive to Confluence Day. It's to avoid bringing shame on the academy and all the history that has preceded you. It’s to become worthy of the incredible power of a primal."

I exhale slowly, trying to steady my racing pulse.

After class, Mireen grips my shoulders and bulges her eyes dramatically, the crescent scar under her left eye crinkling as she smirks. "Since when are you the one calling out answers?" she asks, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Decided it’s finally time for people to realize how clever you are?”

Ambrose slides up beside her, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up with one finger and crossing his arms. His dark hair is cut so precisely it might have been measured with a ruler.

"Not to take away from your little moment," he says, his voice carrying that blend of arrogance and affection I've come to expect from him, "but was it really that genius of an insight? I was like... two seconds away from coming to the same conclusion myself."

"Of course you were," I mutter, rolling my eyes, but not without a small smile.

"Hey," a deep voice says, and I turn to see Beck's blue eyes—the same shade that all water affinities eventually develop, though mine were this color from birth. "Thanks for saving my ass back there."

"Oh," I say, suddenly awkward under his grateful gaze. "It was nothing. I couldn’t watch her pick on you like that."

"Yeah, well," Beck shrugs with a stack of books clutched in one hand. "I appreciate it all the same. There's enough distrust and scheming going on amongst ourselves as it is. It's nice to see somebody showing a little fucking camaraderie for once."

I share a quick look with Ambrose and Mireen, a silent conversation passing between us.

Can we trust him?

I sense uncertainty from both of them. Lately, we don't know who is working with Malakai and maybe even Serena. There's a dark alliance growing within our affinity and possibly between them. Anybody could be part of it.

And yet... I hate the way fear is making us turn on each other. The fear has been isolating us, driving people into smaller and smaller groups that are easier for Malakai to target. What we need is to show strength and prove we'll still band together despite their reign of fear.

"You could sit with us at the dining hall tonight. If you wanted," I offer, ignoring the slight widening of Ambrose's eyes.

Beck's eyebrow flicks upward. "You're sure?"

"Yeah." I lift my chin slightly. "If you're with Malakai, you can tell him we're not scared."