When we don’t reply fast enough, she stands and staggers over to Arryn and Kael, likely demanding answers. Cami, meanwhile, is moving toward Keeda who, after a flash of healing light, reaches down to remove the brace, rolling her ankle back and forth with a relieved smile.

Cami’s face is drained with exhaustion when she reaches my side again, and I stop her before she can waste any more of her energy on me. My leg isn’t so bad that I can’t wait for her to recover first. “What happened to you, Cam?” I ask.

She’s quiet for a long moment as the yacht glides under the bridge and past the Opera House, picking up speed as we head back toward the zoo. The twinkling city lights on either side of the harbor give no indication that the sleeping inhabitants have any clue what happened tonight. No clue about the Speaker battle that occurred within the amusement park. No clue about the danger not just at their borders, but in their midst.

“It was Harrison,” Cami finally says, naming the man from Lengard whose power struck her and, I assume, Pandora. “He can knock people out with a single word and leave them feeling the effects for hours afterward.”

“Never mind that,” Arryn says, coming to stand in front of us with her hands on her hips. Her tone is laced with acid. “Let’s fast-forward to the part where we find out what happened to you.” She’s glaring straight at me. “More specifically, why you failed to retrieve the breakout Speaker and let him get away with Ward.”

Cami flinches at the mention of her brother, but everything in me stills.

“Excuse me?” I say, my voice an incredulous hiss. I’m aware of the others coming to crowd around us—Kael, Pandora, and Keeda—but my focus is solely on Arryn.

“You heard me.” She changes her stance until her arms are crossed. “Some all-powerful Creator ability. He slipped right through your fingers.”

I struggle to quash my rising temper, just as I try to ignore the whisper of doubt in my mind. I did everything I could … didn’t I? Maybe if I’d known how to use my ability better … Maybe if I’d had more training … But—

No. I won’t second-guess myself on this. There’s no point.

“That’s not what happened,” I tell her.

“Oh?” Her eyebrows shoot upward. “Then enlighten me. Because after I got these three safely on board”—she jabs a finger at Cami, Keeda, and Pandora—“and ran back into the park to help, what I saw was you coming out of that building with him yelling your name—your name, Alyssa!—so you must have spoken with him. Told him about us. So, what the hell happened? Did you freeze when Ward arrived?” She squints at me. “Or … did you hand him over? Are you the reason the lights went out so they could all escape?” Her gaze narrows even further. “I got caught up in that, you know. I barely made it back here since I was stuck in the scramble. Do I have you to thank for that?”