Page 514 of Axis of Fire

They hadn't even needed to enter the temple's inner chambers.

Unlike us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Kaeron making his way toward us, his newly awarded brooch pinned neatly to his jacket.

I motioned for him to come over.

Ignoring his heavy sigh—and the way his eyes nearly rolled—I leaned closer and whispered, nodding toward the girls' maps as we discreetly studied them from behind.

"Do you still have your map?"

He patted his pockets.

Paused.

Then answered slowly,

"I think... I must've dropped it."

"Or maybe it destroyed itself to erase the evidence."

I nodded toward the girls again.

Thankfully, they were too absorbed in comparing their maps—and wondering why they hadn't crossed paths during the Selection—to notice us.

"Our maps were different."

Kaeron fell silent.

For almost a full minute.

Thinking.

"Look at their final checkpoint," I insisted quietly. "It's in a completely different place."

He finally turned to me.

"What are you getting at?"

This time, I was the one who fell silent.

Though...

I didn't actually need time to think.

The answer came to me on its own.

"I think someone learned in advance who this year's strongest recruits would be," I whispered. "And decided to put us through a different set of trials."

"Then what about Rosalie?" Kaeron asked. "She ended up on your final team, didn't she? She wasn't one of the strongest."

My mind raced, trying to make sense of it.

But nothing fit.

"It's still strange," I murmured, watching the girls fold up their maps and slip them into the hidden pockets sewn inside their voluminous skirts—a thoughtful detail Madame Zhivorzhinette had clearly planned in advance.

And then...