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“I know why,” Taylor said, putting the book back in the paper bag as she turned to me.

“You do?”

She nodded. “You’re rich. I saw you on TV. They gave you the dollars. Dad said you’re set for life now. Forever.”

I flinched so hard there’s no way she missed it.Coloring books cost next to nothing,was my first thought, but of course I said no such thing. She lived in a trailer, for fuck’s sake. Even her pajamas were two sizes too small and had holes in them—ofcourse she was going to think a bag full of new coloring books was a big deal.Fucking hell, Rora.

“Yes, that’s, um…yes. That’s true.” I stepped back, feeling so nervous, so panicked, so much more than I’d felt when I was in front of the fucking Council. “I have to go. Get back inside and go to sleep, Taylor. You can check out the books tomorrow.”

She nodded. “When are you coming back?”

“I’m not. I’m not coming back.” And I shouldn’t have been back here tonight, either, or that first time. I shouldn’t have, and I wasn’t going to. This was the last time. “Just get inside, okay? Go back to sleep.”

Again, she nodded, so I turned to leave. I was all the way across the street, cursing myself under my breath for not being more careful, when I heard her calling, “See you next time.”

I didn’t even turn around to look at her because something told me I’d find her smiling.

I’d done it.

I’d actually stolen.

I’d taken something that didn’t belong to me and I hadn’t told anybody about it.

I’d taken something that didn’t belong to me without permission, and I’d gotten away with it.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe it,” I said to my empty bedroom for the seventh time in the last ten minutes. I mean,I’d stolen something and I’d gotten away with it.

“From the IDD,” I corrected my own thoughts. “From the actual Vault.” And it had been easy because I’d been with Cassie. It had been easy because everybody trusted her, and the guards never really searched her. It hadn’t even occurred to me in thosemoments that I could get her in trouble. Ruin her reputation, which was the smallest thing that would have happened. Getting her fired or even locked up—those could have happened, too.

My goddess, I hadn’t even thought about any of that when I took the bracelet, and now I still couldn’t believe that I’d actually pulled it off.

I’d put it in the middle of my bed while I stood by the wall because I was too excited, too nervous, a mess of emotions that my body contained only barely. I never thought stealing stuff could be exciting and terrifying at the same time, but here we were. That thing was here now, in my bedroom, in Madeline’s mansion, and I still had no clue why I’d taken it. I had no clue why it had seemed so important that I have it, when it probably wasn’t even the same as the bracelets in those drawings.Impossible.

I’d gotten myself in trouble for nothing.

That night, I couldn’t go to Madeline’s office because she was in the mansion, and she always stayed up late. She could hear me even if she was asleep—I wouldn’t risk getting caught. She would have my head for real if she found me snooping in her office and she wouldn’t even hesitate.

So that night, with the bracelet in the drawer of my nightstand, I slept.

I was so exhausted. All those emotions must have taken a toll on me because I slept like the dead right away, and I didn’t dream of dragons or spiders or Taland at all.

The next three days passed by in a blur.

The reporters were persistent—they still waited for me to finish my shift and took pictures, and even tried to block my way once just to get me to give them a statement. I couldn’t go online without seeing my face everywhere or my name popping up inthe strangest places—and don’t even get me started on social media. I’d deleted all my accounts, and the apps from my phone, just for good measure. It was maddening, all of it, and then one day I went back to the mansion and Poppy announced that I hadfan mailby the bucket.

She also told me not to worry because she’d gone through it all and had weeded out the letters containing hate speech and/or curses or magic spells that could make me lose my fingernails or my hair—or both.

Yeah, I wasn’t touching that mail if the world ended.

Poppy did enjoy myrise to fame, at least. She now had a lot of followers and went live on social platforms to do Q&A sessions about me, and she even did podcasts with other people to talk about my bringing up. I obviously didn’t listen to any of it, but I was pretty sure it would be full of lies. Not because she meant to lie, Poppy, but she always saw things very differently. It was a defense mechanism for her, I was sure, even though deep down she knew. She’d said so herself that day I woke up from the Iris Roe.

I did go through the videos of us the Council had published, though. Not many were in the public domain containingme,so I had to pay for premium membership with the City of Games to see it all, and I did. That first night, I was up until four in the morning looking at videos where the camera had actually caught Taland with the illusion he wore that I somehow saw right through. I had no idea why, but he was barely there in the footage they’d published. One in the Bluefire challenge shot from somewhere behind him while he created his own clone with his illusion magic and sent it to distract Madame Weaver (they didn’t capture me at all there). One in the Greenfire challenge, where he first met his eagle—the one he said he’d namedAquila,the same one who’d foughtfor mein the end. It didn’t show how they bonded, only the part where the eagleperformed thisdancefor him while flying all around him, showing off his gorgeous wings.

The other was of Taland running alongside me and my vulcera in the Valley of the Roc, the last and worst challenge of the Iris Roe, while his eagle flew over our heads.

Yes, our bonding and our familiars had never been real, and the feeling of being so connected to my vulcera was gone, completely disappeared. According to what I found on the City of Games website, the surviving animals were returned to where they came from after the game was over. It didn’t say where, just that they’d returned, and though I’d calledHelp Centerpretending to be a fan, asking if I could know where they’d taken the vulcera of the winner specifically, I got no response.Confidential information, they said.

I should have asked those representatives, if I’d only remembered anything other than how to stay alive that day. I should have asked them, but maybe eventually I’d gather enough balls to call them or go see them in person and find out where the vulcera was now.

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