The next thirty seconds passed in a series of false starts. Zhina opened her mouth with a wet cluck — snapped it shut. Ivogg flipped out a palm — buried it in his colorful apron. I sucked a breath through my teeth — blew it out.

Rekkan recovered first. "Well, fuck. You're not dead."

Serigg's chuckle rattled through the open hall. "Nice to see you again too, Rekkan."

Zhina wheeled toward Rekkan's pale-faced uncle. "Mekkar, you told us you watched her die."

Ivogg stepped between them with a pained breath of laughter. "Hold on there, Zhina. Mekkar obviously thought she was already dead when he left, and he's just as shocked as the rest of us right now." The strain made his voice even more nasal than usual. "Right, Mekkar?"

Mekkar's throat convulsed. "Well, I watched the Implanted surround her, but then I accidentally, uh... didn't see the rest."

"You ran away?" Zhina's fists dug into her wide hips, and her nostrils flared. "All this time, whenever anyone casted doubt on you, I defended you. 'He wouldn't abandon her like that,' I told them. 'He loved her.'"

"I did love her." He rotated the silver cuff over his wrist and licked his lips. "I mean, I —"

His vocal cords collapsed, but I read the last part on his lips.

I do.

Serigg shook her head and snorted, shuffling loose flaps of skin. "When Mekkar left, I fought my way through the hoard and took cover in a shed." Her words blurred as though speaking with a mouthful of food. "I almost bled to death alone in that shed, but once the Implanted scattered, Mekkar returned. He bandaged my wounds, treated my fever, helped me regain my strength. I could almost have forgiven him for running, but then..."

"Then he left?" said Zhina, voice dripping derision.

"No." Serigg's eyes pierced Mekkar, who stared at his shoes. "Then I left. I told him to move on with his life and pretend I had died."

Ivogg tugged at his checkered orange tie, pulling it looser. "But why?"

"Because of the disgust in his eyes. We vowed to love each other until our souls rejoined Ether, but the moment the physical attraction ceased, so did our vows."

"None of that's true," Mekkar whispered to his feet.

"Oh, really? Then look at me."

His gaze lifted in several spasmodic movements. When his eyes reached her face, his head dipped once more.

Serigg rolled her eyes, the right eye glossy brown like a walnut shell and the left curtained by a sagging eyelid. "Well, there it is. True love."

I side-glanced Rekkan, who still refused to look at me, and felt a sting of empathy. I had no reason to believe the physical attraction between us had dissipated, but that knowledge did not make his evasion any easier.

Ivogg smacked his lips. "Serigg, I'm afraid I don't understand. You pretended to be dead for years, and now you show up like nothing happened? What changed?"

"Are you disappointed, Ivogg?" Sweet, sticky honey coated her voice. "Would you prefer I stayed dead?"

Ivogg blinked, eyes wide and luminescent behind the glint of his glasses. "I — Serigg, of course not! We are delighted to have you here." The words tumbled from his mouth. "Are you staying? We'd love for you to stay. In fact, we were all just talking about how much we..."

He trailed off when he realized Serigg was not even looking at him. Her eyes fixed past his shoulder. On me.

"You must be Zafaru," she breathed. "You look just like Lazora. What do you think of the Refuge?"

Beneath the shimmering stream of her question, I sensed a dangerous undertow. Was she asking if I trusted the Refuge? Or whether she could trust me? I knew little about her and was not prepared to discard caution. However, I feared tensions between Northerners and Southies were not the only problem we would encounter at the Refuge... and if Serigg had any insight on the other four Sentries staying here, I wanted to hear it.

All eyes turned to me — all except Rekkan, whose gaze fixed stubbornly ahead.

I forced a smile. "The Refuge is beautiful... almost too good to be true."

The functioning half of Serigg's lips quirked up, but her left eyelid drooped even further. "How wonderful. Perhaps you can show me around?"

Ivogg shimmied back his shoulders and smoothed his apron. "I would be happy to give you a tour, Serigg. Not to sound immodest, but I'm something of an expert in —"

"I'd rather hear Zafaru's version."

Ivogg deflated slightly, darting a glance at me. "But... but Zafaru just got here yesterday."

"Then I'm sure he remembers your tour quite well."

Ivogg hesitated. "Well, I suppose if Zafaru doesn't mind..."

"Zaf," said Rekkan, a guttural, one-syllable warning that blended with the whir of the overhead air ducts.

"What?" I deliberately spoke loud enough that everyone could hear. "Do you have a problem with that? Are you jealous that Serigg didn't ask her nephew?"

It was mean — I knew it was mean — but I craved a reaction. His refusal to look at me hurt more with each passing second. I wanted him to yell at me, if he needed to, and maybe I'd yell at him too. Then we could clear this building tension that I did not understand and go back to the effortless contentment of the fortress.

Rekkan shook his head at his feet, lips twisted in some cruel imitation of a smile. "I could never feel jealous. I spent my happiest years alone."

Well, that fucking backfired.

I blew out a long exhale as a bizarre mixture of emotions scrabbled for control. Part of me wanted to escape before he could hurt me more — and maybe make him hurt a little in the process. You think you want to be alone? Then I'll leave you alone. But even as I reeled back from the attack, I couldn't help brainstorming a path toward forgiveness. Maybe if he told me he was sorry. Maybe if he looked guilty.

Maybe if he looked.

He didn't.

"I'd be happy to give you a tour," I told Serigg. Ignoring the eyes on my back, I started toward the spiral staircase.

As we weaved through blossoming ferns and towering oaks, I cleared my throat and relaxed my brow, attempting to dispel Rekkan's bitter words. "This is the 'miniature paradise,'" I told Serigg. "Apparently you can burn here, so that's cool. I mean, there are UV rays."

"Hmm," she murmured.

The loudspeakers blared, sending critters scuttling into bushes and birds flocking for the trees. "Freedom. Freedom at last. Isn't there such joy..."

"That song signals the next part of the schedule," I said. "Mingling hour starts now."

"Hmm." Serigg tilted her face up to watch birds scramble for purchase on high branches. "Mingling. I see."

Again, the hidden question projected through her voice. I considered attempting an answer, but she would see soon enough how well the people were mingling.

We pushed through the vine-covered archway and down the corridor. "Coming up on the right is the cafeteria, where we have —"

"Zafaru."

I jerked to a halt and spun back toward her. "Yeah?"

Her dilapidated smile emanated more warmth than she had shown around the others. "I don't actually need a tour, dear. I helped create the blueprints for this place."

I frowned. "Then why did you ask me for a tour?"

She veered left and tapped on a door I had not noticed, painted the same plum-purple as the surrounding wall. "Oh, what's this door?"

"Uh, I don't —"

She cranked the door open, snatched my arm, and jerked me inside.

Apparently I was already jaded from the night before, because instead of fear, annoyance flared through me. Seriously? Again?

When no knife met my throat, I examined my surroundings. I stood in another supply closet, smaller than the one from the night before. Brooms, mops, dusters, and buckets propped in the corners, leaving only a few square feet of empty space... and leaving me uncomfortably close to the near-stranger before me.

"Who here do you trust?" she whispered.

"Rekkan." The answer was fast — unthinking — and then my chest tightened, remembering my last few interactions with him.

The tip of her tongue traced the uneven line of her lower lip. "How do you know you can trust him?"

I gripped the door knob behind my back. "If you are about to tell me not to trust him, I'm leaving."

She blew out a sigh, loose lips flapping. "I'm not saying he's a bad person, but... his mind works differently than ours. Did he tell you about his childhood?"

"He told me about his aunts and uncles... that none of them ever loved him properly."

The gnarled space where her eyebrows should have been furrowed. "Did he tell you about Marvikk?"

My stomach tightened, but curiosity captured my mouth. "Who is Marvikk?"

"Marvikk used to play with Rekkan once a week. Rekkan was ten, and Marvikk was eleven or twelve. For a time, it seemed to be going fine. They barely talked, but they both seemed to prefer it that way. Then one day, out of nowhere, Rekkan —"

"Stop." The word ripped from my tightened gut, an instinctive protest as though I were the one she attacked. I could not forget the glimpse of unhealed hurt when Rekkan told me about his childhood. I was a strange child. They were scared of me.

The rest of humanity had failed Rekkan, but I wouldn't.

I cracked open the door behind me. "I don't want to hear it. And if I do, I'll ask Rekkan."

She caught my arm and pulled the door shut. "Wait. I understand how you feel, Zafaru, because I used to feel that way about Mekkar. I trusted him with everything... even with my suspicions back at the Noble Forces Headquarters."

Her words trapped my attention and dried my throat. "What suspicions?"

Her eyes flitted to the door behind my back, and her voice dropped even quieter. "I can tell you more, but only if you promise to stay away from Rekkan."

I shook my head. "Rekkan saved me. And he helped me save the world."

"Do you ever wonder how how he infiltrated the Fully-Fermented so easily?"

My back stiffened, and my voice tightened. "No. The Fully-Fermented left him alone because his bionic leg had a microchip. And he almost died saving me."

She hummed a low, sad note. "When I shared my fears with Mekkar years ago, he wanted us to leave the Headquarters — ostensibly to keep me safe." Her eyes grew dark and clouded. "Looking back on it, I don't know if he was too much a coward to save me from the Implanted or too much a coward to kill me himself."

Goosebumps erupted over my arms and back. I imagined the slow shake of Mekkar's downturned head, his morose tone. I just can't believe Serigg's really gone.

In my mind, his face lifted with a crooked grin.

I barely knew Mekkar.

But I did know Rekkan.

"Rekkan is no coward," I said. "And if you trust Mekkar so little, why are you even here?"

She flipped up both palms. "I see your mind is already made up, so I won't bother trying to change it. But be careful, Zafaru. Even if Rekkan is truly on your side, you are not safe here."

She shouldered past me and slipped out the door.

I followed her out. As the door sealed behind me, Ivogg rounded the corner. He flashed a smile and jogged toward us.

"There you are, Zafaru! Fennikk and Razalu are looking for you. A bunch of other kids now want you to teach them how to climb! Both Southies and Northerners. Isn't that terrific?"

I bit my lip and glanced down the empty corridor behind him. "Where's Rekkan?"

"He went to Mekkar's room. Mekkar wanted to explain himself and also teach Rekkan guitar. Very exciting. Happy reconciliations all around!" Ivogg rubbed his palms together. "Now, if you are up for it, I'll lead you to the awaiting climbers-in-training!" His eyes flicked to Serigg, and his smile wavered. "Assuming you and Serigg are finished?"

Serigg nodded. "Zafaru, thank you for that lovely tour. You were right." The functional side of her lips ticked up in a smile. "This place really is too good to be true."