This isn’t like how it was with Ward when I found out about his betrayal. This is beyond that, something treacherous and underhanded and unforgivable. Everything Kael has done, everything he’s said …

“Why?” I ask, choking on the word. “Tell me why.”

It’s Jeremiah who answers, even though I was talking to Kael. “I already did, Alyssa,” he says, moving closer to my dad.

“You didn’t.” I shift in Ward’s arms, only to have them tighten around me. “You blame my dad for your wife dying— that doesn’t make sense.”

I look at Kael, pleading with him. Pleading for the person I thought I’d come to know, for the friend I thought cared for me.

But there’s nothing of the Kael I know in his eyes as he says, “After the lab accident at Lengard ten years ago, my family was exiled from Lengard.”

I have no idea why he’s bringing that up, but still I say, “You told me you left of your own accord.”

“We’ve already established that I’ve been lying to you for some time, princess.”

I recoil at the familiar nickname, one that now holds a mockery of the affection it once offered.

“We were kicked out by Falon, who said Dad’s Creator power was too unstable, too uncontrolled,” Kael says, a shadow passing over his face. “We would have been okay, would have found a way to survive, but SCARS swooped in, saying they could help us live normal lives.” His tone is beyond bitter. “We didn’t want normal lives. And when we resisted their efforts, they decided Dad was too dangerous. A threat to society.” He jerks his chin toward my father. “So they had Christopher Speak away his Creator ability.”

With a single word, Christopher Scott ruined my life.

I swallow as I begin to understand what followed.

“We did the best we could, founding the Remnants, building a community of Speakers whose leader had no ability himself. Dad eventually left when he could no longer stand to be around other Speakers after everything he’d lost, but he visited in secret whenever he could. Life wasn’t bad,” Kael says. “But then, three years ago, my mum got sick.”

I know this part of the story. I’ve seen it.

“It would have taken Dad half a second to heal her,” Kael says, his voice hoarse, his eyes unfocused as if he’s back in the memory. “It would have taken any Speaker half a second. One word—that’s all we needed. A single Spoken word. But while the Remnants were growing, we didn’t have a healer. The only one we knew was at Lengard.”

I follow his gaze when he looks at Cami. Her face is so white that I can see her freckles from across the room.