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A raspy sound almost escaped my throat.

I knew who she meant.

“The Senseque should no longer be our problem.”

So now I was the Senseque. At least an upgrade from the ungifted.

“She was part of our inner circle. Of course she’s a problem!”

Gloria sounded enraged. As if Harlow had spilled her tea – which she always drank while staring down at the campus like a vulture from her office window – all over her expensive clothes.

“Diana also doesn't seem to be who we thought she was,” Gloria continued.

I sucked in my breath sharply and got alarmed sideways glances from Emely and Larissa.

Luckily, Quatura didn't have super hearing. We would have been done for.

“I've never been able to trust that woman,” Madame snorted.

What the...

“We'll figure out how to get information out of her,” she added.

Inevitably, my eyes filled with tears.

The urge to burst out of this miserable hiding place and confront these women was stronger than anything else. The only thing that stopped me was Larissa's cold hand, which came out of nowhere and gently stroked the back of mine.

Pity flickered across her face.

I knew how much she and my mother were at loggerheads, which was why I appreciated this gesture.

Gloria stopped abruptly, began to turn and scan the corridor, and we all automatically pressed ourselves further into the shadows.

They were now a good 90-degree turn away from Miles. Damn.

“This building shouldn't be the property of Senseque.”

I caught a yellow flicker of anger in Emely's eyes. And something else. Worry?

“It is indeed a remarkable architectural structure,” Harlow added, her voice almost enthusiastic, as she herself gazed at the decorations carved into the half-columns.

Gloria looked at her as if Harlow had lost her mind. Eventually, she cleared her throat. “When this is over, this place will be ours.”

An ominous heaviness settled in my stomach.

What were they talking about? Were they planning to buy the university grounds?

Gloria was about to turn further.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emely pull something out of her pocket and... throw it?

I thought she had thrown it at Gloria in her rage – I would have understood that – but the something flew over Gloria's head, and a few seconds later, I heard something small and loud bounce down the spiral staircase.

Abruptly, Gloria turned in the other direction.

The two women exchanged warning glances, and I saw Miles press himself even further against the wall.

“Didn't you say Director Copeland was in a meeting?”