9
The rest of the day passed in a haze of flashing steel in the clearing and strained nods and smiles from my fellow Black Bloods. At first, I tried to convince myself they were just glad I was back and too confused about how I’d survived to say hello to me.
Then, I noticed how they whispered when they thought I couldn’t see. How Nessa began making her way around the training field, stopping to chat with every person she could catch. How there was a spring in her step as though she were living the best day of her chivving life.
After Case had run me through enough training to leave a fresh set of bruises coating my body, and worn down my need to scream at every person who glanced in my direction, I slipped away for a bath in the cave. As I traveled to my tent, a rustle of whispers follo
