These were proud heroes. They weren’t going to capitulate to a petty ultimatum, or share vital secrets with someone whom they regarded as weak-minded. So Ariock waited for Garrett, Evenjos, and Thomas to leave. He expected it.

“You’re right.” To Ariock’s surprise, Garrett eased himself down on the plinth. “I haven’t been trusting you. Maybe that’s a mistake.” He glared around the courtyard, including Thomas and Evenjos in his gaze. “I’ll reveal my secrets provided they reveal theirs.”

Thomas looked burdened.

“No,” Evenjos said, alarmed. “I do not think that is a good idea.”

Interesting. So the mind readers did not even trust one another. They were all hoarding major secrets, perhaps important secrets, at a time when the universe needed them to work together more than ever before.

They weren’t a team. Were they even friends?

Ariock sat across from Garrett, making himself comfortable. “I’d like us all to trust one another,” he said. “That seems important. So I’ll go first. Except…” He gave them each a pointed look. “Oh, well, you already know everything about me.”

They couldn’t deny it.

“Who’s next?” Ariock asked.

“I’ll go last.” Garrett sounded chummy, as if some critical problem had been solved and now they were just a bunch of friends hanging out.

Ariock gave him an unfriendly stare.

“My secrets are a doozy.” Garrett spread his hands apologetically. “I’d rather save the mind blowing for last, just in case it ruins the meeting and makes you all hate me.”

Ariock hoped that was hyperbole.

Thomas and Evenjos sized each other up, clearly daring the other to go first.

“I do have a secret,” Thomas admitted. “But it’s pointless to tell you in this context. It’s no big deal. It’s not worthy of discussion.”

“Tell us anyway,” Garrett demanded.

Thomas looked towards Evenjos, as if hoping for a rescue.

“My secret is irrelevant.” Evenjos stepped back. “It will not help us. It has nothing to do with our current situation.”

Their demurrals piqued Ariock’s curiosity. He saw Garrett’s gaze sharpen, and he knew that his great-grandfather also wanted to know what unimportant secrets Evenjos and Thomas considered to be worth guarding.

“It’s worth sharing,” Ariock said, “even if you think it’s irrelevant. This is about sharing vulnerability with each other. I’ve already done that, involuntarily, with all of you.” He gestured invitingly. “I’ll do my best to keep an open mind. I just want fairness. You know every major secret I’ve ever kept. For instance, I’m sure you know that I got engaged to Vy.”

“Congratulations.” Garrett did not attempt to sound surprised.

Evenjos and Thomas politely echoed the sentiment.

“I knew,” Thomas admitted.

Of course they all knew. Ariock and Vy had told no one. They had agreed that it was premature to celebrate any kind of future while the Death Architect was still at large.

“You’re good people.” Ariock looked at Thomas and then Evenjos. “Whatever secrets you’re keeping, I doubt it will alter my basic opinion of you. I just think some equality will make us a stronger team.” He considered Kessa’s work with penitents, and he added, “Telepathy gas has equalized the field, a bit, between mind readers and non mind readers. Do you want me to use it?” He shrugged. “I kind of hate the stuff, but if you’d rather share your secrets with me that way, I’ll do it.”

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“That’s not necessary.” Thomas sat on a marble step. “I’ll tell you what I’ve kept hidden, provided that Evenjos and Garrett also share their secrets at this same meeting.”

Evenjos tightened her lips. But she nodded, and took a seat on a step facing Thomas. “I can do that.” She turned to Ariock. “You won’t like my secret, though. It won’t help you.”

Ariock wasn’t sure Evenjos had any clue what he would or wouldn’t like.

“Agreed.” Garrett looked around at them, and said, “This is a prophetic pivot point.”

Thomas looked interested. “This? Right now?”

“Yup.” Garrett made a pipe appear, lit it, and took a puff. “I believe this is the Pact of Strength.” His round gesture included the courtyard, and the four heroes who faced each other.

Thomas had his rarest look: Surprise.

“So let’s go ahead,” Garrett urged. “What’s your secret, Thomas?”

Thomas eyed Ariock with caution. “Are you sure you want to hear something that will lower your opinion of me?”

Ariock recalled another time when Thomas had been this reluctant to reveal a self-incriminating secret. Ariock had insisted until Thomas painstakingly told his tale about the Gotte couple; the foster parents whom he had killed by accident.

Thomas had been so ashamed. So self-hating.

But after he had shared that terrible secret from his past? He had begun to lose some of his long pent-up mistrust of himself. He had begun to loosen up, and to consider that he might be human after all. He had accepted the side of himself that made mistakes.

Not only that, but Ariock had learned a lot about Thomas from that revelation. He had begun to see the boy as a potential friend instead of as an unstable ally. He had recognized Thomas’s self-hatred and identified with it.

Cherise, too, had begun to lose some of her antagonism towards Thomas. And Vy. And the ummins from Duin. They had learned that their Teacher was capable of shame and humility, which made him less like a Torth and more like them. That opened up a path for friendships.

“All right.” Thomas seemed to be paying attention to what was going on inside Ariock’s mind. “Maybe you have a point.” He took a deep breath, as if bracing against an attack. “I guess I can go first.”

Ariock nodded with encouragement.

“But I’m warning you,” Thomas said. “It’s not a good secret.”

Ariock did his own internal bracing for bad news. “Go ahead.”

Thomas removed his sunhat, allowing a better view of his eyes. “I’m more Torth than you realize. I’ve never been good with emotions. I yearn for tranquility meshes. I don’t like being around groups of people. Acting friendly is always an act for me. It’s an effort. I’m most content when I’m alone and at work.”

Anyone who visited Thomas on a regular basis was familiar with his brusque manner and his occasionally brutal honesty. Thomas didn’t do fun. He always held himself apart from other people.

None of this seemed like news to Ariock. He waited for a big reveal.

“So I don’t have the heart and soul of a hero.” Thomas seemed frustrated, like he was giving a lecture to an obtuse group of students. “I’ve been given power. But I should never be trusted with power.” He emphasized that. “I put on a good face, and pretend that I’m mostly harmless, and that everyone should trust me. But where does that lead?” He looked at Evenjos. “You know where it leads.”

This must be a reference to the mind readers who had imprisoned Evenjos and went on to found the early beginnings of the Torth Empire. Unyat. And Audavian. Both of those monsters had pretended to be friendly during their rise to power.

Ariock recalled the story, as told by Evenjos. Audavian had begun his life as a “Formula freak” child in a slum who had won a scholarship or something to a Yeresunsa academy for royalty. He had charmed everyone there.

And the original Unyat? The first super-genius in existence had begun as a hedge doctor for peasant serfs. He had become a folk hero. Perhaps he had even believed his own message of granting equality for all people.

Thomas might be like Unyat and Audavian in superficial ways. But Ariock doubted that he was anywhere near as monstrous.

“What’s your secret, Thomas?” Ariock prompted.

“That’s it.” Thomas hunched his shoulders with shame.

Ariock couldn’t believe it. He wanted to make sure. “That’s it? Your big secret is that you don’t trust yourself?”

“Yes,” Thomas said.

“You’re wrong.” Ariock blurted it out. “Of all of us, I trust you with power the most.”

Thomas stared at him. “I’m not wrong.”

That sounded final.

Ariock supposed that he understood. He didn’t quite trust himself with power, either. He wouldn’t get intimate with Vy unless he was wearing an inhibitor patch. That was just common sense.

“So what should we do?” Garrett sounded nonplussed as he stared at Thomas. “Lock you up in a cage and trot you out when needed?”

Ariock shot his great-grandfather a warning look.

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Thomas said.

He sounded completely serious.

“That’s ridiculous,” Ariock said.

“You’re being awfully dismissive,” Thomas said. “A super-genius telepath is telling you, beyond doubt, that he should not be trusted with a ton of power.”

Ariock recognized an off-kilter self-assessment when he heard one. But Thomas seemed overly invested in an untrustworthy image of himself, so Ariock played along. He nodded and managed not to roll his eyes.

“You’ll need my help to deal with the Death Architect,” Thomas said, his voice wooden and emotionless. “But afterwards? I think you may want to reconsider locking me up. Or you should put me on some kind of permanent version of the inhibitor.”

Garrett looked thoughtful.

Ariock tried not to groan in disgust. “Thank you, Thomas,” he said. “Let’s move on.”