After they are questioned, Victor, Reed and Kayla are thanked for their service. Meredith is last, and she’s warned about the perils of favoritism.

    As soon as she rejoins the line, we’re dismissed. Levi leads us out of the room...the building. Outside, warm sunlight strokes me, soothing my razed nerves.

    Elizabeth mutters a hasty goodbye to everyone but me and hurries off. Doesn’t want me to ask why she supported me in front of witnesses?

    Reed has a class and heads in the other direction.

    Meredith gives me a hug. “I’m proud of you. I wish I could stay and celebrate your first mission, but I need to watch over Clay and Dior.” Off she goes. A workaholic’s job is never done.

    That woman...oh, that woman! I love her more every day.

    Victor and Kayla hang back.

    “I received permission to take you on a tour of Archer’s place,” Victor tells me. “Want to go?”

    The griminess left over from the debriefing sloughs off me. “Yes!” A thousand times yes. I’ll get to see where Archer lived, walk among his things and breathe in his beloved scent. “But why did you have to receive permission?”

    “Until the Resurrection, the homes of the dead are preserved.”

    Kayla stiffens, saying, “I thought we—” Whatever she sees in Victor’s expression quiets her. “I’ve, uh, got to go. Things to do,” she says with false brightness. She scurries off before I can question her about her odd behavior.

    “A word first, Miss Lockwood.” Levi draws me aside, and I expect a reprimand for my behavior. Instead, he peers down at me with pride. “You held your own today. Good job.”

    “I...thank you?”

    He nudges me with his elbow. “If only you did so well with your Key, eh?”

    I bristle. “Hey! I’m close. Well, closer.” I hold up my right arm to trace a fingertip over each numerical sequence. “They are cyphers. I just have to find out what they decode. Any hints?”

    “Yes.”

    I wait for him to say more. He doesn’t. “And?” I prompt.

    “And what? You’ve been given plenty of hints. Just...look to your heart. The answer is there.”

    My lashes fuse as I glare at him. “Gee. Thanks.”

    “We need our Conduit,” he says, “and until you’ve unlocked access to the entire Grid, you’re just another soldier.”

    “There’s nothing wrong with being a soldier,” I sputter.

    “Very true—when you’re meant to be a soldier. A hand can never be a foot and a foot can never be an ear. You are a Conduit. A born leader. You are meant to start a wildfire with a single spark.”

    My head falls back, and I stare up at the beautiful, bright sky. “Another teaching moment? Seriously? More cryptic words of wisdom that do not help? Why can’t I have a normal teacher who assigns me a ten-page essay about all the ways I can improve my sucky attitude?”

    “Excellent idea.” He tweaks my nose. “Have the essay on my desk by eight tomorrow morning.”

    I cross my arms. “Why didn’t you tell me what would happen when I touched Dior?”

    “Because you weren’t supposed to touch Dior.”

    A simple answer, and yet sharp enough to pop the air in my balloon of confidence. I should have obeyed. I should have trusted.

    “Now,” he says. “If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned your messages with Killian...”

    Zero! I barely swallow a moan. “Do we have to do this here?”

    “Shhh. Levi’s in the middle of a teaching moment.”

    I give him a brutal side-eye, and he laughs.

    “If anyone can convince him to defect, it’s you,” he says, shocking me. “Archer tried, wanted it to happen so badly. But more than that, you would no longer be in danger of consorting with the enemy. And miracle of miracles, I think you’re making real progress with Killian. Keep up the good work.”

    What? I’m flummoxed by this. His mind-set is a complete 180. Unless, of course, Levi is the one working with Myriad, and he secretly wants—

    Nope. Not going there! Not traveling the paranoia path.

    “Now, my final thought for the day,” Levi says. “Your aunt Lina lives in the Land of the Harvest, and she’s incapable of taking care of herself. When she helped you evade Myriad, she violated the terms of her contract. Myriad has the right to punish her, and word is they’ve chosen to end her Firstlife.”

    “No!” They’ll try to use her Everlife against me. “They can’t just—how can they—no one should—”

    “She visited the Troikan HQ in LA and asked for sanctuary. Your covenant with us allows us to protect any extended family members, even Myriadians, so we were able to hide her in one of our institutions. But it’s a temporary measure. Unless and until she agrees to go to court, our umbrella of protection is limited. Do yourself a favor and go see her. Convince her to agree. The institution is surrounded by TLs, so you’ll be safe.”

    Aunt Lina. My dad’s twin sister. Loony Lina. Every member of our family thought she was crazy. Including me! Until recently, I’d had no idea she wasn’t insane—she saw into the future.

    “She tried to kill me,” I remind him. Scratch that. She did kill me. At the time, I was Unsigned, and I wound up in Many Ends.

    Okay, okay. In her defense, she first ensured I had the resources I needed to rescue Kayla and Reed, and she even made arrangements for Archer to find and revive me.