ALESSIA
Defense training was at four, and I made it there with eleven minutes to spare and a heartbeat that had not settled since the courtyard.
I hadn't told anyone about the voice at the wall. Not Priya, obviously — Priya knew Alex George, and Alex George had no reason to go pale over an engine noise. Not Aiden, because there had been no way to reach him between classes without the kind of visibility I couldn't afford. I had carried it alone for three hours, turning it over, trying to convince myself I'd misheard a name that sounded like the one Ethan used to murmur against my hair when he wanted something from me.
I hadn't misheard it.
The training yard was open-air, walled on three sides, gravel underfoot, and Ryker was already there when I arrived, running a first-year cadet throu
