“Do I want to know what’s going on?” I sigh.
“She’s trying to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong.” Gregor pauses at the other side of the room, then quickly crosses back.
“My nose is already right where it belongs.”
“You are not involved in any of this.” He points at her as if punctuating his declaration.
“I absolutely am involved and I’m trying to find out ways I can be of more help,” Sorza says to us both. “I thought I could come and check on her from time to time.”It is a kind offer…“Or help with something else.Anything else.Let me do something more than just going through the mindless motions of a student waiting for fate to deal whatever hand it has in store for me.”
“I don’t want your help.” Gregor squares up in front of her. Sorza stands a little taller, tilting her head, not intimidated in the slightest. This makes Gregor only more annoyed. “I. Don’t. Know. You.”
Sorza glances my way. “Does he always repeat himself several times?”
“She needs to leave before the World—beforetheysee her.” Gregor speaks to me now. Clearly, he didn’t tell her too much when I asked him to fill her in.
“Who’s the World…?” Sorza misses nothing.
“It’s no one,” Gregor says.
“You’re lying.” Sorza is far too delighted by her innate power.
“You’re annoying.”
“Which is worse? Being annoying or a liar?” The way Sorza needles him gets right under his skin.
I’d probably laugh if I wasn’t so exhausted and disheartened. “Sorza, please go. Can you find your way back on your own?”
“I can. But I want to help.” She shifts away from Gregor to face me, turning the same determination my way. “You gave me your word you would involve me in your plans if I helped you.”
“You what?” Gregor’s jaw drops open.
“I will find a way,” I reiterate my earlier promise. “But for now, please, Sorza.”
She sighs. “Fine.” Sorza glances over her shoulder one final time, but she looks at Gregor instead of me. “You’d better get used to me sooner over later, big guy, because I’m not going anywhere.” Before he can muster a response, she leaves.
“ ‘Big guy’?” Gregor repeats in shock. “Is she always like that?”
“More or less.” I nod.
“Reminds me of how Arina was…” he murmurs to himself.
A knot twists between my ribs. She is a bit like Arina, in a way. I hadn’t seen it before, and it’s not a perfect mirror. But the similarities are undeniable. Probably why a kinship with Sorza has been effortless.
“Is that what made you agree to bring her in?” Gregor asks.
“Not intentionally,” I admit. “She saw through my disguise; I had to give her something. And she has a power that we can use—that’s worth having on our side.”
“How long ago did this happen?”
“First day of classes.”
“So, let me get this straight.” He holds out both of his hands as if framing a difficult-to-picture idea. “You did not want to trust the Worldkeepers—an organization your mother led and guarded—because they weren’t part of the club. But you trusted this random student?”
“She’s not a random student; she was my friend last year.”
“She’s not a member of the Starcrossed Club.” He folds his arms. “You told me off for bringing the Worldkeepers here, but then tell me not to worry about it when you bring people I would consider strangers? That the peopleyoubring can be trusted at your word, but not the peopleIbring at my word?”
I curse under my breath and run a hand through my hair before locking eyes with him and saying simply, “You’re right.”
