Page 15

Could I walk into the common room without being invited? It was called common, which suggested it was meant to be, but that didn't answer whether I needed to announce myself first. The kitchen was communal, yet I'd never lived anywhere people just walked in and took food because they were hungry. Corian had said supplies came twice a week and personal items could go on the order, but not whether I needed to ask before eating what was already there.

Could I even leave?

Nobody had told me I couldn't.

Nobody had told me I could either.

I pressed my lips together and turned from the door before I got angrier with a piece of wood.

This was ridiculous. I could spot structural damage inside a body just by looking, calculate how fast a Fire Rift toxin would spread through someone's bloodstream, and put a throwing knife through a moving target from across a training hall. But being left alone in a bedroom with no schedule was enough to make me feel like an idiot.

My life had always come with instructions. Even when I hated them, they existed. Training at this hour. Food at that one. Medical evaluation afterward. Don't enter this corridor. Wait outside that room. You may leave. You may not. Stand there while several adults discuss whether you're trustworthy enough to access your own ability this month. The list was endless, yet I was starting to appreciate it.

I understood rules. Freedom, it turned out, mostly meant nobody explained anything and you get to look at a door like it holds the meaning of life.

Across the room, Ashter lifted his head from where he'd sprawled over half the bed, ember eyes tracking my pacing like it was the most interesting thing he'd seen all day.

"Don't," I murmured.

His tail thumped once against the blanket.

"I know you're enjoying this."

Another thump, harder.

"Traitor."

A knock hit the door before Ashter could answer that with anything more than his tail, and I turned fast enough that my braid swung across my shoulder.

"Jade?" Corian called from the hallway. "We've put some food out if you want something."

"I'll come out." I answered by reflex, the way answers always had.

"Alright."

His footsteps moved off right away, without opening the door to check whether I meant now or how long I planned to take.

If I wanted something.

Another choice.

I glanced at the wall of knives. None of them looked willing to help.

I waited a few seconds before following, irritated with myself.

The common room stood empty, but voices drifted through the open doorway to the kitchen, along with the smell of bread and something sweet. I followed them and stopped just inside when I found all four men sitting around the long wooden table.

Nothing about the meal looked organized.

Sandwiches were piled on two broad plates, sliced apples and pears scattered across another, bowls of berries and what looked like dried fruit, cups that didn't match, and no arrangement telling me where anyone was meant to sit. Corian had the thick file from Janus's office on the chair beside him. Alex was halfway through a sandwich, talking around a mouthful of bread despite the look of disgust Nykos kept giving him.

Halver sat near the window, one forearm on the table, picking through a handful of berries with the same focus other people reserved for calming a Fire Sprite. Nykos sat across from him, looking more irritated than he had in Janus's office, which took real effort since I'd already started calling him Grumpy before I knew his name.

Two seats sat empty, which turned into a problem. Was there a seating order? Had someone left a chair open for me on purpose? Did squads have assigned places at meals? Nobody had mentioned it, though nobody had mentioned food could just appear at any time either.

Alex looked at me, looked at the empty chair beside him, and worked out the problem faster than I liked. Without a word, he pulled a clean plate toward himself, dropped a sandwich onto it, added a second after a moment's thought, piled on a few slices of pear and a handful of berries, and pushed the whole plate into the empty place.

"Sit before Halver eats all the fruit."