Truth be told, I can’t afford to miss school. I have some questions for Thane—like why didn’t he tell me he was one of the last people to see Lily alive?

Standing under a scalding stream of water is cleansing, and by the time I’m finished, my skin no longer feels clammy. The bites on my arms from Lily’s bugs have faded from a bright red to a dull pink. My hand still aches. When I start to trust the Order, I’ll remember the claw and think twice.

I wipe the mirror free of fog. I miss my necklace, miss the weight of its chain around my neck, the press of the coin against my skin. I miss the comfort it brings. Roth took that from me. He touched me—unclasped the chain, let it slide along my collarbone until it was free of me and in his possession.

I squeeze my fist tight. The thread reacts to my anger, pushing at the surface of my palm. I wonder what it means to be the Eurydice with Roth at my back, hanging my poppa’s coin over my head. What plan does he have for me? Shivering, I shove that question from my head. For now, I have to focus on finding the coin and Lily’s killer.

As a reminder, the television is on when I come downstairs for breakfast, screaming a report on Jake’s death. Hearing his name and seeing his pictures on local news make my stomach ache, and I let my cereal turn soggy in the milk. They manage to blame it on a bobcat attack while he was playing a game in the woods. The anchor describes queen’s ransom as a decade-long tradition between rivals, Rayon High School and private school Nacoma Knight Academy, an event that was cancelled by school officials after Lily’s death. The students who chose to play did so of their own accord. Inexplicably, my name is kept out of it, and I wonder if that’s the work of the Order.

The screen cuts to Natalie’s father, standing with Emerson Hall in the background. His hair blows like a wispy cloud.

“We are devastated by all this tragedy,” he says. “It is a horrible time for all of us.”

Then the anchor, “This is not the first death to haunt Headmaster Rivera or the students of Nacoma Knight Academy. Earlier this week, the campus was shut down due to an apparent suicide outside the administration hall.”

The segment transitions into international news where anchors summarize the continued investigation into the London block fire and the Switzerland plane crash.

Mom shakes her head, unable to peel her eyes from the screen.

“All those poor people,” she says. “It sort of feels like something bad is happening every day, doesn’t it?”