Page 71

"If someone asks, tell them a wolf finally took pity on you." He turns a corner. Gone.

I stare after him. That was almost information. Nyra receives her token from Soren. He presents it with considerably more ceremony. He finds her near the library, bows as though inviting her to a royal feast and places the coin in her palm.

"I believe you earned this."

Nyra looks down. "What is it?"

"Proof of poor judgment."

Her blue eyes lift. "Mine?"

"Mostly ours." Then he kisses the back of her hand and disappears into the library before she can ask anything else.

Nyra finds me several minutes later, still confused. Rowan is waiting beside her. Holding a token.

I look at it. "Who invited you?"

She draws herself up. "I have connections."

Aricia takes the coin from her, examines the edge and hands it back. "She stole it."

"I borrowed it." Rowan corrects her.

"From whom?" I ask.

"A second-year."

I raise both eyebrows. "Did he know?"

"He knows now."

Selena appears behind them. A brass token hangs from a chain around her neck. Rowan stares. "You have one?"

"Yes." Selena says blankly.

"Who invited you?"

"My cousin."

"You said he graduated."

Selena nods. "He did."

Rowans frowns. "Then how?"

Selena's expression remains perfectly calm. "Some invitations remain valid."

Rowan looks personally betrayed by tradition. Aricia holds up her own token. "I was invited by Chief Wings Officer Serrane." We all turn toward her. She shrugs. "Our families know one another."

Rowan points between us. "So everyone has one."

Nyra glances around. "Cassian too."

I close my fingers around my token. "Then I suppose we're going."

Rowan grins. "Finally."

The ninth bell rings after sunset. Academy rules require first-years to remain within the main grounds after the tenth. That gives us one hour to reach the village and return. Which means we are very obviously not returning by the tenth. No one says this aloud. The tradition probably depends on collective denial.