A small, scared part of me worried I’d lost him forever. Because just like Byron and Tristan, Amy and I seemed to be trapped in a world where it felt like only one of us got what we wanted. Only one of us got a given parent. Only one of us got the Victoria Dallon closest to their heart.

Fucking barf.

Time passed, maybe ten minutes, my thoughts in a whirl. Moment to moment, I found myself regretting things I’d said, wishing I’d said other things, and being so frustrated I almost used my power to tear that railing out and crumple it into a ball. I could imagine punting that ball of metal railing into the wall with enough force it would embed into the hard white surface.

I have newfound power and control and they’re not letting me use it.

I want to get out there.

The railing squeaked with added weight. Battle damage from the raid on the base hadn’t been completely fixed.

“I talked to Amy Dallon, after I talked to you, the day following the attack on the community center.”

I didn’t respond, and I didn’t look.

“There are so many things I could say about that conversation. But I don’t want to get distracted. Suffice to say I told the Wardens I was worried. I felt like you were possibly right, saying she was dangerous, and I communicated that. They said they would keep a closer eye on her. The disaster with the portals and the loss of the headquarters no doubt made that difficult to impossible.”

I nodded.

“More pertinent to this… conversation? Confession? Is that she told me she saw herself in me. The exhaustion. The weariness, the imminent breakdown. She used her power on me—”

I whipped my head around, my eyes wide.

Jessica looked so weary, simultaneously alarmed at my alarm.

“Passively,” she said. “There’s no sign she did anything.”

I looked down, away, my heart hammering.

“Thank you for caring, though,” she said.

I swallowed hard.

“It was… a penetrating comment at a time I was undeniably overworked, overstressed, and trying to shoulder too much of a workload. It can happen, that the wrong comment at the worst time can devastate you. I’m sure you know, having dealt with Tattletale, who apparently has that as her power.”

I bit my lip, staring down at the space below the railing, the team rushing down a hallway.

“After that conversation, I cut down on my work. Delegated. I reached out, I found colleagues who were willing to help. I revisited an idea I’d had about having a guest speaker of sorts come in to talk to my therapy group. I’d brought it up with Weld before.”

“That was because of Amy?” I asked, tensing.

“In small part. I’m sorry.”

“What happened with Riley, Jessica?”

“How did you even hear about it?” she asked.