Chapter 33
I return to find my room empty.
I text Trinity because we really need to talk more about what happened. Then I clean up the blood on my face and do my best to patch myself up before changing into my PJs.
As I slide under the covers, my knee throbs. I banged it up pretty good today, and it might cause me some trouble during my workout tomorrow, but I’ll push through it.
When Lacey and Winter return, I pretend I’m asleep so I don’t have to talk to anyone. As much as I fear moving into House Aria, I also can’t wait to put some distance between us.
I assume Trinity must have gone to find Edward, and I wonder what her plans are now. Dating across Societies isn’t wholly unprecedented, though it is rare, and a marriage requires both sides of the relationship to cede to the same House.
As I wait for her to return, I drift in and out, trapped in a state of per-petual anxiousness. I toss and turn, replaying the conversation with my mother in my head.
I’ll never forget that look on her face when I broke whatever was between us forever.
Eventually, I must cave to exhaustion because when I blink my eyes open, slivers of early-morning light filter around the edges of the curtains. It feels like I’ve been kicked and dropped and twisted through a vise.
My watch tells me it’s way too early to be awake, but I doubt I’ll be able to sleep anymore. I roll over and look across the room to find Trinity fast asleep, snoring softly. It’s her last night in this room, too, and in spite of everything, I’m relieved we’re doing this together.
My knee aches as I get up and limp to the bathroom for a shower. When I emerge, Trinity is dressed and sitting on the edge of her bed, running her palms over her thighs.
“Hi,” she whispers, aware of Lacey and Winter still asleep.
“Hey,” I say. “We should talk.”
“Maybe not here?” She nods toward our roommates. “I need to meet Stevie before breakfast to receive my new room assignment.”
I exhale a short breath. “Same.”
She blinks, and it takes her a moment to process my words. “Poet, did you really—”
“Not here,” I reply, again gesturing to Winter and Lacey. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
She nods and stuffs a few things into a backpack while I dress and do the same.
My things will be moved later, but for now, I grab a few essentials to get me through the day.
We both exit quietly, saying little as we head toward the library. It’s mostly empty, so we find a corner where we won’t be overheard.
“Tell me everything that happened,” Trinity says. I recount the events of my night—how I was given two choices and when I chose both . . . or neither, depending on how you look at it, they left it up to me.
“But why?” Trinity asks. “Why did you choose Aria?”
I sigh, shake my head. “Partly for me. Partly for you.”
Tears form in Trinity’s eyes. She wipes them with the back of her hand. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
I shrug. “I’d do anything for you, Trin. You know that. And now I won’t have to marry Knox. I hope he’s happy with Winter.”
A line forms between her brows. “But your father—”
“I’ve ruined my family,” I say hoarsely. “I know.”
I tell her about the awful conversation with my mother.
“But they started this. They left me no choice.” I try to say it firmly, like I really believe it.
They wouldn’t listen to me, but what if I’ve overreacted?
Maybe things would have been fine with Knox.
I think about the bruises he left on my arm, reminding myself that despite the consequences, the alternative was so much worse.
Trinity nods, and we’re both silent for a moment.
“You aren’t serious about joining E-squad,” I say, my voice low. “That was just to get you into Aria, right?”
“No,” she says, confusion passing over her expression. “I want to join them.”
“But why?”
“I’m no longer Fiama, and I need to do something.”
“But don’t you want to do something . . . good?” My voice turns a little too loud, and she frowns.
“I am doing something good. I’ll be protecting everyone from the dangers of infected Keepers.”
I shake my head. “Don’t you think what they do is kind of terrible—”
My words cut off as a small group of people enter the library. They wear the dark-red shirts of E-squad recruits, and they’re eyeing Trinity and me.
“Of course not,” Trinity says. “They play a vital role in our Society. A vital role in our new House.”
The reminder is a cold dose of water. I’ve willingly joined the people whose duty it is to deal with people like me. Now I’m living among them, circling a little closer to possible exposure. I might be sick.
I pull my water bottle from my bag and take a long sip, trying to settle my stomach. I have to talk her out of this. Somehow. She’s so much better than those brutes.
I tense up as the E-squad recruits approach, then stop breathing when they stop at our table.
A woman stands in front of two men. I recognize her as the same person I saw Trinity talking to not that long ago.
I’d completely forgotten until now. She’s tall, lean, with sharp features.
Her tank top reveals her sleek arm muscles.
“Robins,” she says with a grin. “We heard you passed last night.”
Trinity nods eagerly. “By the skin of my teeth.”
I wonder what Trinity was asked to do.
The girl claps her on the shoulder. “You’ll be rooming with my girls and me,” she says. “C’mon. I’ll take you there now.”
“Really?” Trinity asks, her eyes widening like she’s won some kind of prize. “Thank you!”
“Of course,” the girl says, her gaze flicking to me while I try not to flinch.
“Oh, sorry!” Trinity says. “This is Ruby. And that’s Brick and Axel.” I remember Brick from when he tried to intimidate me after my first test. He doesn’t look any less like a blank wall in the bright light of daytime. “This is my best friend, Poet Graves.”
Ruby folds her arms and cocks a hip. “We know who she is,” she confirms. “I hear you’re joining Aria, too.” She doesn’t say it with any kind of pride, only suspicion. But great, the news is already spreading. I shouldn’t be surprised.
Two people switching Houses in one night? That’s news worthy of a wildfire.
“Yeah, speaking of which,” I say. “I need to go meet Stevie.”
All three E-squad recruits are creeping me out, and I don’t like being anywhere near them.
“I guess you’re good?” I ask Trinity uncertainly. She can’t really want to leave with them. I thought we’d share a room. Isn’t that part of the reason I chose to join Aria?
“Yeah, I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Sure,” I say. I hate this. I grab my bag and stand as Ruby and the others fill the vacated seats. I toss out a quick goodbye, but Trinity is already deep in conversation with her new friends and doesn’t respond.
So I head for the main hall, where I find Stevie casually leaning against a pillar, dressed in Storm Guard purple.
“Wasn’t sure you’d show up,” she says, eyeing me up and down.
“Yeah, well, I did consider running away to the Wastes.”
That earns me a laugh.
“Talked to your dad?” Stevie asks.
“Yeah,” I answer. “To my mom, at least.”
Stevie winces. “How did that go?”
“About as well as you can expect.”
She studies me, probably wondering what in the Skies is wrong with me.
Same, Stevie. Same.
“Did the E-squad find your friend? They’re supposed to show her to her room.”
“Yeah,” I say. “They did. Will she . . . be okay?”
Stevie cocks her head. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“I don’t know. They seem . . . intense.”
She laughs, and I get the sense she doesn’t entirely disagree.
“She’s one of them now. They hold tight to their people.”
That sounds ominous.
I look around the almost-empty hall. “Should we get going? I need to have breakfast and head to class.”
“We’re just waiting for one more,” Stevie replies, when footsteps echo behind me.
I turn around to find Rook sauntering toward us. I should have known. He’s dressed in first-year gray—a T-shirt and black pants with his standard-issue boots. Dark colors really work on him.
He approaches with his usual stoic expression in place. His arrival makes my heart flutter against my rib cage, and I order it to behave. But of course it doesn’t listen.
If he’s surprised to discover that I’ve left Fiama, he doesn’t show it.
“Morning,” he says, doing that thing he does, running a hand through his hair. I’m staring for a second too long, and he arches a brow before I tear my gaze away.
“Just how many people joined Aria yesterday?” I ask, and Stevie huffs out a laugh.
“There’s a handful of you,” she answers. “But you two are definitely the most interesting.” She pushes herself off the pillar. “Come along, little pledglings.”
We head up the staircase curving around the other end of the hall, and I shake off the sensation that I’m crossing a threshold into hell.
This is just another set of dorm rooms; get a grip.
Having Rook trailing behind me with his sure, confident steps actually makes me feel a little better.
Halfway up, Stevie pauses and looks back at me, searching my face. I’d say she looked concerned if I didn’t know any better. She opens her mouth and then closes it before turning and continuing up the steps.
The Aria wing contrasts directly with Fiama’s, doing nothing to dispel the notion that I’ve entered enemy territory. Instead of creams and golds, Aria is adorned with black silk walls in ornate brocade and embellished with iron and silver. The effect is just as elegant but darker and more sinister.
It’s louder, too. Thumping music pounds behind doorways even at this early hour, and the air is charged with something electric.
Stevie leads us down a hall and throws open a door. My new room is just like my previous one, except for the color scheme and the presence of two of my new roommates lounging on their beds.
“Silla and Cece, meet Poet,” Stevie says.
I think she’s trying to welcome me in her own aloof way, but as she cautioned, I can join House Aria but she can’t make any of them accept me. Silla and Cece are obviously less than delighted to meet me.