When Lincoln walked me back to my room, we passed Mia and Hiro in the corridors.
‘Hey,’ Hiro said, dressed in his ghosting uniform of all-black.
Lincoln and I nodded to him.
‘Hi Mia,’ Lincoln said. ‘Good to see you.’
Mia nodded curtly. ‘You too.’ She barely glanced at me. ‘Violet.’
‘Hi,’ I said, wondering why she was being so frosty. I hoped we’d all kind of become friends since Santorini, what with the shared battlefield and all.
‘We’re on duty,’ she said.
‘Sure,’ Lincoln said. ‘We’ll catch up later on.’
She nodded and the two walked on.
‘Was that weird?’ I asked Lincoln when they were out of earshot.
‘No. She’s just focused on her work. She’s always been like that.’
‘I guess …’
Lincoln dropped me off at my room and promised to return later. We had plans to meet Griffin, Spence and Zoe for dinner. They were going to give me a full run-down of what to expect once my classes started tomorrow. From the smirk on Lincoln’s face I could tell he was looking forward to seeing how I fared in prac classes. I resolved to make sure I did him proud. As my primary trainer he took my performance results personally.
In my room, I found a note that had been left on my bed.
Dear Violet,
I’m glad you are here.
My invitation still stands if you should like to visit
Nyla at any time. I have alerted the guards on her door
that you are an approved visitor.
On another issue, I wanted to offer my service as a potential
mentor in your preparations towards your final testing.
I would consider it an honour.
Rainer.
I smiled, slipping the note into my pocket. I’d just found myself a mentor.
After spending some time exploring Building B, I returned to my room to find Zoe sitting on her bed looking way too pleased with herself.
‘I take it you beat Spence?’ I asked, wondering how bad a mood he would be in at dinner.
‘That would be one description,’ she said. ‘It was the most fun I’ve had in days.’
I laughed. ‘You’re evil!’
‘Yeah, but I see my evilness as a service to the greater good. My superiority will only make Spence a better fighter in the end.’
We both laughed.
When we had calmed down and were reclining on our respective beds, Zoe rolled onto her side and pushed herself up onto her elbow.
‘So?’
‘So, what?’ I responded, pulling out my ponytail and running a brush through my hair.
She raised her eyebrows expectantly. ‘Are you going to tell me about it?’
I wondered if my meeting with the Assembly was supposed to be kept confidential but no one had told me it was. And Zoe had been incredibly patient.
So, I told her everything – how I had met the Assembly, about Lincoln’s fight with Seth and Drenson’s power test, which made her sit up, eyes wide, on the edge of her bed.
‘Then, we took Lincoln back to his room and I … you know …’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Violet, why are you blushing?’
In the absence of Steph for the foreseeable future, Zoe was my closest girlfriend. And I needed to be able to talk to someone about this stuff.
I groaned. ‘I kissed him.’
Zoe blinked. ‘Oh, you’re going to have to give me a lot more details!’
‘It helps my healing – it makes it easier for our powers to merge and makes us both really strong.’ I grimaced, realising I wasn’t being entirely honest. ‘Okay, I don’t have to do it that way any more, but his shoulder was dislocated and I thought the distraction might … you know, help …’
Zoe nodded, keeping a serious expression. ‘Practical and convenient.’
I rolled my eyes.
‘And?’ Zoe pushed.
‘And … It worked. I popped his shoulder and healed him but … We were still kissing and I … I guess I was weakened from using so much power already and I kinda …’
‘Kinda?’ Zoe prompted.
‘Jumped him,’ I admitted.
Once Zoe had stopped laughing, she gave me her thoughts. ‘First of all, Lincoln is gorgeous and he clearly loves you just as much as you love him. The fact you guys are being torn apart is the definition of tragic. So, don’t beat yourself up about it – if I was on top of him half naked I’d totally be dishing the moves!’ When she saw my narrowed gaze she quickly added, ‘Hypothetically, of course.’
After I settled my head back on my pillow, Zoe carried on. ‘The question I have is this: You said that when you and Lincoln heal each other together it makes you both strong, rejuvenates you or whatever, right?’
I nodded.
‘Then … wouldn’t it make more sense that the two of you were at your strongest when you were finding it so hard to pull yourselves off each other rather than exhausted and at your weakest like you said?’
I opened my mouth to argue. Closed it.
Silence.
My mind went blank.
What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘Fairly examined, truly understood, No man is wholly bad nor wholly good …’