“So that’s her,” Silas says.
His voice pulls me back. We’re outside now, cutting across the quad toward the east buildings. The afternoon light is too bright after that small room.
“What?”
“The anomaly. The one who showed up out of nowhere.” He says it casually, like he’s talking about the weather. “No mark. That’s interesting.”
I don’t like the way he saysinteresting.
“She’s part of that cluster,” I say. “The one that formed before the system caught it.”
“I know.” Silas glances at me. “Harrick’s been doing some digging. Apparently she was off-grid for fifteen years. No trace, no contact, nothing. And then suddenly she just… shows up. Already attached tothem.”
The way he saysthemtells me everything.
“So?”
“So doesn’t that seem convenient to you?” He’s not looking at me now, eyes scanning the quad like he’s bored. But I know better. “Fifteen years outside the system. No mark. And she lands in the middle of the one cluster no one knows what to do with. Five guys from five different Houses who somehow found each other before the system had no choice but to recognize it.” He shakes his head. “They’re a mess. An embarrassment. And now they’ve got a sixth who’s even more broken than they are.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m not saying anything.” He shrugs. “Just that it’s a lot of coincidences. And I don’t believe in coincidences.”
We walk in silence for a few steps. I should let it drop. I should change the subject, talk about training or schedules or anything else.
“What did you think of her?” I ask instead.
Silas’s mouth curves. Not quite a smile. “I think she’s scared. I think she doesn’t belong here. And I think that blank wrist is going to cause problems.”
“Problemsfor who?”
“Everyone.” He looks at me sideways. “Why? What did you think of her?”
I think about gray joggers and silver-blonde hair and pale blue eyes that held mine across a circle. I think about the way her hands shook when she extended her wrist. The way she started to stand, started to run, and then sat back down because the professor told her to.
I think about the hallway. The way she stopped when I called her name even though she didn’t have to.
“I don’t know yet,” I say.
It’s not a lie. But it’s not the truth either.
Silas watches me for a second too long. Then he nods, like I just confirmed something.
“Be careful, Trey.”
“Of what?”
“Of getting curious about things that aren’t good for you.”
I know a threat when I hear one.
“She’s in my class,” I say. “That’s all.”
“You should probably keep it that way.”
I’m done talking. We’ve reached the training building anyway, and Silas pulls open the door without waiting for me.
I follow him inside, but my mind is still on the quad. Still on the circle. Still on her.
