“And that would be my sister, Willa,” Emmy announced, her voice suddenly raised enough to carry all the way over to me. I froze, but she kept talking. “You three know Willa, I’m assuming?”

“Everyone knows that … girl,” one of the guys replied, glancing over Emmy’s shoulder to lock his eyes on me.

The fact that he was talking about me with even a small amount of disdain meant that Rome hadn’t been able to un-wedge himself enough to follow me—or else he was deliberately not following me, which actually made more sense. If I wasn’t forced to live inside myself and back up my own decisions I probably wouldn’t follow me either.

“Okay, first,” I announced, holding up my hand and raising a finger into the air, “Yes, I am a girl. You don’t need to sound unsure about the fact.” I delivered that to the guy who had spoken, before fixing my eyes to the back of Emmy’s head. She still hadn’t even turned around. I was ignoring the other two guys completely. “And second, how the hell did you know it was me?”

“You’re loud,” the guy replied, speaking for Emmy.

I flicked my eyes back to him, and then summoned my best glare. He was tall, skinny, and wearing wire-framed glasses that appeared too narrow for his eyes. His shoulders were slightly stooped, but he had a look of quiet capability about him. It annoyed me.

“She also has a somewhat distinctive blunder—it’s not quite a walk, but it does seem to propel her forward,” another of the guys added.

I cut my glare to him and found him just as unimpressive as the first. He was the same height, but a little stockier, with shockingly blonde hair and a thoughtful frown. The third guy remained quiet, a little darker in appearance, with sooty hair and dusky skin. I didn’t need to examine him, because I knew exactly who he was. That was Fred, the idiot who apparently wasn’t an idiot at all, because his father had a chance at becoming the next Vice-Chancellor.

And he was a sol.

And Emmy was still brushing arms with him.

“That’s enough,” Emmy said quietly, just as Fred opened his mouth to say something—probably to add an insult to those I had already received. She turned around, then, and I could see that her expression was tired, her shoulders dropping forward. “I guess we’re done here for the sun-cycle. Let’s go, Willa.”

She didn’t wait for any of the guys to say anything, and they didn’t seem inclined to speak of their own accord, so I planted my feet against the ground and resisted when Emmy reached me and attempted to drag me away.

I knew something was going on, and I knew that it was something I wouldn’t approve of. Considering I broke more rules than even the Abcurse brothers—and that was not a feat to be underestimated—I was assuming that Emmy was hiding something very big, and very bad. The only problem was, I had no idea how to force it out of her. She was in a fragile state. I didn’t want to push her away on top of everything else.

“Introduce me to your friends,” I ground out, attempting to sound polite as I continued to stick my feet to the ground.

Emmy was staring too hard at the side of my face, apparently trying to convey some kind of secret message. She really needed to stop trying to do that. I sucked at secret messages.

“Yes,” Fred called out, taking a few steps toward us. “Why don’t you introduce us, Emmanuelle?”

“Emmy,” I quickly snapped, before I could stop myself. “Her name is—”

“Willa,” Emmy cut across me, making my head spin a little bit with all the names being thrown about the room. “As I said before,” I realised that she wasn’t talking to me, when she turned to the others, “this is Willa, my sister.”

“That’s only half an introduction,” Fred replied, clicking his tongue in admonishment.

I fought off the urge to break out of Emmy’s grip and slap him clean across the face.

“Willa …” Emmy continued obediently, taking a calming breath that had me at least partly convinced that she was fighting the same violent urge as me. “Willa … this is Frederique, Bradford, and Morgan. Their fathers will be competing against a panel of high-ranking Minateur guards in a few sun-cycles, in Dvadel.”

“Competing for what?” I asked, my eyes still locked onto Fred.

I knew exactly what they were competing for, but my tone of voice managed to turn it into some sort of scathing remark. I shouldn’t have been pushing them. Of all the sols in Blesswood, these would have been the worst ones to pick a fight with, but they were messing around with my Emmy, and all the secrecy was making my skin crawl.

“Competing over who will get to be in charge of unruly little dweller sluts like you, actually,” Fred replied, a stony smile suddenly etched onto his face.

There was a crash in the storage room that sounded suspiciously like one of the shelves being slammed up against a wall, and I knew that Rome was a moment away from breaking free and having a crusher moment with Fred, so I only smiled in response and hurried toward the exit of the room. I could feel Emmy following behind me, so I didn’t bother looking back.

“I almost wish you’d stayed and let whichever Abcurse is hiding around here somewhere start breaking faces,” Emmy muttered beneath her breath, as soon as we were in the hallway.

“They killed the Chancellor. They had a single rule: if they killed one more person in Minatsol, they’d have their sentence extended—and being the idiots that they are, that’s exactly what they did. So they’re in enough trouble as it is. I don’t want to add to it by upping the body count.”

“Makes sense.”

“So I take it you’re not actually attempting to manoeuvre into sexual positions with those three dicks?” I questioned as casually as I could, while I pulled open the storage door.

Rome was halfway through the wall, shelves bent and pushed aside all around him. He’d basically built himself a twisted, metal cage, and was now stuck in the mess he’d made, breathing through his frustration.

“Manoeuvre into sexual positions?” she asked, cocking her head at Rome. “Is that what you guys do? Because I don’t think this one is very good at the manoeuvring part.”

I blinked, turning away from the image of Rome pulling himself back through the wall and leaping over a fallen shelf to reach the doorway we stood inside of.

“I can’t believe you just insulted Two while he’s in angry crusher mode. Are you crazy?”

I wasn’t being serious, obviously, because Rome couldn’t have cared less what Emmy had said. His face was red and his breathing was heavy for another reason, and I could tell that he was just about to push past me and take the more direct approach into the secret meeting room, so I quickly stepped right into his path, taking up the whole doorway.

“Willa …” he started to warn, but it was Emmy who cut across him.

“Why don’t we take this somewhere else?” She seemed to be requesting, instead of demanding, which meant that she had at least some sense of self-preservation still inside her. “These halls are about to fill up with dwellers collecting their supplies for the sun-cycle and you probably don’t want the whole academy talking about how you mushed three really important sols into a stone wall during peace-talk time.”

She had a really good point, and Rome seemed to think so too, because he didn’t attempt to walk through me or toss me over his shoulder. He only stared at me, taking deep breaths until the redness subsided from his face.

“We need to leave,” he eventually spat. “Now. Before I change my mind.”

That was enough for me. I quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him back toward the way we had entered the temple. Emmy attempted to trail along behind us, but it was making me too nervous that I would lose track of her, so I forced her to walk in front of us instead. Getting Rome away from the damage he would cause if we left him alone down there was my main priority, but it didn’t mean that I had given up on getting answers out of Emmy. As soon as we were clear of danger, I was going to find out everything that she had been hiding from me, even if I had to use Rome to squeeze it out of her.

What I didn’t count on was the rush of people that collided with us as soon as we passed back into the main halls of the academy. It was finally lunch time, and everyone was heading toward the dining hall. It shouldn’t have surprised me that my new rule-breaker of a sister would use the crowd to slip away from me, but it still shocked me enough that I came to a standstill, people battering at me from each side until Rome planted himself behind me, forming a wall.

“What is it?” he asked. “Where did the dweller-Emmy go?”

“She gave me the slip.” My voice sounded hollow, disbelieving. “Again.”

He made a grunting sound, and it felt as if more of the anger bled out of him. It seemed that he was almost fully over the need to kill the three sols, which was both a relief and a disappointment. A few less dick-sols—as they would be henceforth referred to—would do our worlds some good.

What the hell is Emmy up to? Rome’s anger was dissipating, just in time for mine to rear its head again.

“I’m probably almost definitely going to kill my sister when I get my hands on her again,” I snarled, as we finally made our way into the dining hall.

The crowds were thinning a little, and I barely noticed the looks shooting our way. At this time, the dwellers and sols were going about their normal routines: the dwellers were serving, and the sols were … being blessed. There was an air of change about the place: a dash more attitude from those forced to serve. A few dwellers exited the kitchen, and I recognised a bushy head of hair. Evie. Our eyes locked as if she’d heard my thoughts, and I tensed, wondering how she would react. I expected a sneer, because the dwellers still thought I was a traitor; instead, she gave me a half-smile and a slight nod, before she turned to deliver her tray to a nearby table.

That was weird. Even weirder than normal, which was definitely saying something since Evie was one of the instigators of the dweller uprising. Evie and Emmy were both instigators, along with Atti. And now Evie and Emmy were both acting strange.

Emmy … my slippery, sneaky sister.

Rome kept one hand firmly planted on my shoulder, weaving me through the tables. I should have made him hold on to Emmy like this. No one was slipping out from under that firm grip.

“She’ll tell you when she’s ready.” He seemed to be reading my thoughts again. “Knowing what I do about her—meaning the little I have bothered to learn—your Emmy-dweller isn’t completely reckless. There’s a reason to her weirdness.”

A cold fear clenched inside my chest, and breathing became painful for a few beats. “She lost her … guy. Her love-partner-person.” I got choked up, swallowing hard and continuing. “Lost is a stupid way to put it. It’s not like Atti is just wandering around with an upside-down map asking for directions. He isn’t really lost … he’s gone. He’s dead and now lives in Topia as a server named Judy. Emmy isn’t acting rationally, and I can’t wait for her to be ready to tell me!”

Rome let out an exaggerated breath, which I pretended not to hear, because I already knew that I was being a pain in the ass.

“He’s not a server in Topia,” Rome explained patiently. “We already checked for you.”

I wanted to believe him, but I knew they would lie to me to protect my feelings. Especially since there was nothing they could do even if Atti-Judy had been taken to Topia as a server. We were at the table now, and some of the pain in my body lessened as four sets of eyes locked onto me.

“What’s going on?” Siret leaned forward in his chair.

The deep, midnight purple of his shirt was fitted across his broad chest, and even though I was upset, I couldn’t help but stare at him as I answered.

“Emmy is hiding something. We just found her in a clandestine meeting with three sols—and not just any sols,” I continued on in a rush. “Sols whose fathers are in the running to be the next Vice-Chancellor of Blesswood. This can’t be a coincidence.”

Not a single expression at the table changed; the politics of Minatsol registered at about a minus five on their give-a-shit-meter.

“Why would a dweller be secretly meeting with sols!” I almost shrieked, sick of no one taking me seriously.

Coen leaned back in his chair, his arms stretched behind his head as he regarded me solemnly. “If you want us to track her down, I can make sure she doesn’t move until she tells you everything.”

I was almost desperate enough to take him up on his offer, but I felt there was less of a chance that she would openly talk with the Abcurses around. Which meant that I needed to get her alone.

I’d keep that as plan B. “I might eventually take you up on that, but not yet.”

He shrugged, his lips tilting up lazily as he continued to stare at me. I found myself fighting the urge to crawl across the table and launch myself at him. Ever since Coen and Aros had unlocked my Beta side, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way they’d touched me and the way my power had exploded.

It was driving me crazy.

Between those thoughts and the Emmy stresses, I was shocked that they hadn’t carted me off to a healer for a mental evaluation.

Yael snorted from my right side. “I’m sure that your mother had something like that tested many life-cycles ago.”

No doubt I should be offended by that, but instead I was blindsided by a mental image of my mum. Her blonde curls haywire, which they always were after a big night out. Washed-out blue eyes intersected with red veins. Always bloodshot. Most of the time she was passed out, no time to care or notice enough of my behaviour to worry about whether I was crazy or not. Hell, half the time she acted even worse than me.

I think I surprised all of us when I answered quite seriously. “My mother wasn’t concerned with anything but herself and alcohol. I frustrated her, but I was also easily shoved aside. If it wasn’t for Emmy … it would have been a lonely existence.”

The silence felt a little heavy but not uncomfortable. Like we were each processing those words, and then as conclusions were reached, questions were asked.

Aros was first. He leaned forward, a lock of that golden hair falling across his forehead. “What about your father? You never speak of him.”

A derisive chuckle built in my chest as I snorted out, “Can’t speak about someone you’ve never met. Either I was a gift from the gods and just appeared on mum’s doorstep, or she got knocked up by a passing dweller she met at Cyan’s Tavern.”

And since I looked exactly like her, and we all knew how the gods felt about me, there was really only one of those options that we could consider plausible.

“You never asked her?” Rome pushed further, and a jolt of frustration had my voice clipped as I answered.

“Of course I asked her. What kid wouldn’t want to know if there was a responsible parent out there? One who wasn’t going to vomit in their only pair of shoes?” Always look before putting shoes on. It was solid advice. “She just told me that I didn’t have a father, and I should focus on the future, not the past.”

Focus on the future, Willa, the past is of no use to anyone. She used to say that to me all the time. Then she would get blind drunk and not have to focus on either.

A part of me was used to it, but I also couldn’t think too long or hard about her, because I didn’t want to be an angry bitter dweller. It wasn’t worth it. It changed nothing.

“Do we have anything happy to discuss?” I asked with a sigh, leaning forward and resting my chin on my arms.

The Abcurses somehow exchanged a single glance between the five of them, and I found myself sitting back up, unease rocketing through me. I didn’t like that look. It wasn’t a happy look. They were totally not bringing me any happy.

“What?” I finally burst out, my eyes running across their faces. “Don’t tell me you’re having another sex talk with me?”

A sol nearby gave a gasping cough and I realised how loud I was. Whoops. Maybe this wasn’t the best place for this sort of discussion, but the guys didn’t seem upset. If anything they now looked amused, which I preferred to that serious look from before—a look which unfortunately returned as all five of them leaned in. Siret spoke just loud enough for me to hear.

“Staviti has called us to Topia. We might have to face a trial.”

I swallowed roughly. “Because of the Chancellor? They found out you killed him?”

A single nod from each of them confirmed my fears.

“When do we go?” I tried to keep the worry from my voice, but as usual, I failed miserably.

“In four sun-cycles we need to cross into Topia,” Yael answered. “We’ll have an informal meeting with Staviti, and then he decides if it goes to trial.” He didn’t seem worried, his words so relaxed and calm.

Meanwhile, I was about to pee myself because I had a very bad feeling about this.

“It’ll be fine, Soldier.” Siret wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer. “Staviti is used to us, we might have our time on Minatsol extended, but I doubt anything else will happen.”

Usually I would have sunk into his heat, into the comfort of touch, the soul-link no longer strained, but the worry just wouldn’t leave.

“What will Staviti say when you bring me along? Does he know you’re linked to a dweller? Does he know I might be a Chaos Beta? Is it a good idea to clue him into those things?”

Coen and Rome moved closer together, their broad shoulders blocking out the entire room.

Coen was the one who answered. “You can’t come with us, Willa. For those very reasons, and a few more. Staviti won’t kill you, but he could make your life very difficult. And we won’t let that happen.”

I knew my brow was furrowed, I could feel my forehead wrinkling right up as I processed those words. “The soul-link will kill me if we’re that far apart.”

Which worried me even less than the fact that every time the six of us were split up, something really terrible happened. Like Cyrus … wait a freaking click!

“You guys better not be thinking about transferring the soul-link to Cyrus again. Because I would rather take my chances with Staviti and Rau.”

Rome’s low growl rumbled through the table to me and I was pretty sure the wood actually vibrated.

Aros spoke up when it didn’t seem as if Rome was going to do more than curse and growl. “We won’t be transferring the link to anyone. Yael had an idea a while ago, and we finally managed to find the right god to help out. There is a way to temporarily extend our link—you’ll be able to be quite a distance from us and not suffer. It would only be temporary, of course. Eventually Rau’s curse would eat through the energy, but it would last long enough for us to get through this meeting, and even long enough for the trial, should it come to that.”

I was slumping into my chair again when dwellers appeared at our table. They carried laden trays of food, all of which were deposited down in front of us. The guys had to move back to make room for the many selections. For once I really didn’t care about the cheesy toast, or the little swimmer puffs.

Before I could stop my hands, they were reaching out and scooping a bunch of both foods onto my plate. Okay, I might have cared a little. Really though, it is important to keep your energy up when you need to argue with five hulking gods.

“You don’t have to argue with us,” Rome said, reaching for a bowl of pasta. “We will do what is necessary to keep you safe.”

“Who keeps you safe? I should be there!” I argued back, before shoving a bite of crunchy bread into my mouth.

Stupid gods and their stupid rules.

“Willa-toy,” Yael’s voice was surprisingly gentle, for him, and I was astonished enough that the bread halted halfway to my mouth as I focused on him and his next words. “We’ll be fine. Staviti would never piss off Abil by trying anything underhanded. He likes to keep the Originals happy.”

Siret then brushed his hand across my hair, ruffling it slightly, and I turned to him. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

My eyes narrowed on him, then with a grunt, I resumed eating. This conversation was definitely not over. I had four sun-cycles to figure out what was going on with Emmy, and to convince the guys that it was much safer for me in Topia with them. Which meant that it was time for another scheme, only this time I wouldn’t have Siret to help me. This time I was on my own.