“What. The. Plagues. Happened?!” Adena’s vigorously shaking me

by the shoulders, making my teeth rattle. As soon as I got back to the Fort, confused by the events of the day and very content to go straight to sleep, Adena pounced on me and demanded every detail.

“What? How do you…?” I’m stumbling over my words, wondering how she could possibly know that today was any different than the hundreds prior.

She cuts me off, eyes wide with excitement and unanswered questions. “Everyone’s talking about it! The whole market is buzzing about the silver- haired girl who fought off a Silencer!” I stare at her, dumbfounded. She barrels on, her words fast and breathless. “And the prince?” She all but squeals. “You saved the prince?!”

“Well, he doesn’t seem to want to admit it, but yes, I saved the prince’s ass.” This time, she does squeal. “But only after I stole from him.”

Her mouth flies open. It’s so dramatic that I can’t help but laugh. “You

what?”

“In my defense,” I say, hands raised in innocence, “I didn’t know it was him.”

“Pae, the prince…” Concern clouds her gaze, and she blinks about a dozen times before saying, “He’s a Wielder. Could he…Could he sense you didn’t have a power—?”

I cut in before any more color can drain from her face, quickly explaining the events of the last half hour. Adena’s eyes are wide, her curly bangs clinging to her lashes as I fill her in on everything from robbing the prince to fighting the Silencer. After she learned of the lie I’d spun for the future Enforcer, we talked quietly until the shadowy alley was swallowed in darkness.

“Okay, but is he really as handsome as everyone says he is?”

I give her a flat look that I doubt she can see but know she can sense. “That is the question you’re dying to ask after everything we just talked about?”

“That wasn’t an answer,” she singsongs.

I lay down on the rough carpets, stifling my groan with a scratchy blanket. Choosing to keep my mouth shut gives Adena all the answer she needs.

She squeals, and this time, I stifle her with a blanket.

Dawn creeps over the rooftops, and I mimic it from below and tip toe along the streets.

Blending into the utter chaos that ensues every morning on Loot, it normally isn’t hard for me to slip around unnoticed while slipping watches from shopper’s wrists, or coins from unguarded pockets.

But not today.

Today, I’m not invisible. A thief’s worst nightmare.

Eyes. Dozens of them, all pinned on me as I pass. I hear them whisper to one another, pointing and gawking.

A few begin clapping as walk down the aisle of merchant carts, staring at me in awe. There are dozens of familiar faces in the crowd, having grown up surrounded and surviving by the same people. Friend is too strong a word for anyone who isn’t Adena, but I’ve been building my reputation as a Psychic for years, earning respect and witnesses to my abilities.

The crowd seems to part for me, leaving a wall of people watching on either side.

“The Silver Savior,” I hear a man whisper before others echo his words.

I stop, almost stumbling when my feet seem to stall. There, once blocked from my sight by crumbling shops, hangs another banner now in clear view.

The people of ilya have chosen

Introducing your contestants for the sixth ever Purging trials:

Kai Azer Andrea Vos Jax Shields Blair archer Ace Elway Braxton hale

Hera Colt Sadie Knox

My eyes scroll down the list of names quickly. And then my heart skips a beat. Maybe a dozen.

Because the final name scrolled in large letters for all to see is far too familiar.