“Hey!” Glim said. “You’re in the wrong place.”

“What?” Akari turned to face the blue mana spirit in the mirror. “They said to meet in the dining room.” She gestured back to her surroundings with the tile floor and the long wooden table. “Looks like a dining room to me.”

“No, no.” Glim’s blue hair swished back and forth as she shook her head. “The formal dining room.”

Akari gave her a flat look, then she glanced down the hall toward the smaller table in the kitchen—the one where people actually ate.

“That’s the breakfast nook,” Glim said.

“And this is?”

“The regular dining room, of course.”

“For Talek’s sake,” Akari muttered. “Just lead the way.”

Glim leapt out of the mirror, taking the shape of a floating Missile and zipping down the hall. Akari had to jog to keep up as they crossed the estate with its dark wooden paneling and expensive artwork. At one point, they passed through a massive space with stone pillars on either side of the walkway. It was basically one throne short of being a throne room.

Their journey ended in yet another dining room. This one was far larger than the first, not to mention fancier. The wooden table looked long enough to seat fifty people, and a pair of chandeliers shone from the high vaulted ceiling.

And of course, the others were already waiting for her. Elend and Irina stood at the head of the table while Kalden and Relia stood a few spots down.

Akari shuffled toward Kalden, close enough for their arms to touch. He smiled at her with a nod, but his eyes were distant, as if no one was home. Then he shifted away, putting several inches of space between them.

Talek. So he’d lost a hand and a couple of fingers—she’d be pissed off too if it were her. Except Kalden wasn’t acting angry. In fact, the marble statues in the throne room showed more emotion than him.

He’d spent the first week alone in the pool house like a hibernating dragon, only coming out to eat, or when Relia dragged him by the shirt collar. Akari had given him space, hoping he’d get back to his old self.

Then yesterday rolled around, and he started training in the backyard as if he’d been doing it all along.

“What’s your plan?” she’d asked him.

“Considering my options,” he said without taking his eyes off his mana.

She tried a few more questions after that. What were his options? How’d his meeting with Irina go? What techniques was he training?

More bullshit one-lines followed, just vague enough to make her feel awkward for sticking around.

Okay, so Kalden became a brick wall when he had to process stuff. That was nothing new. But what about that whole thing where he liked her? Was that on hold? Was it over? Akari wasn’t expecting an answer, but she’d settle for three minutes of real conversation. After everything they’d been through, it seemed stupid to drift apart now.

“Good,” Irina said. “Everyone’s here.” Pure mana shot out from her finger, closing multiple sets of double doors around the room. A second later, she pressed another button to activate the sound suppressor Constructs.

With that done, she pulled two manilla envelopes from a leather pouch and slid them across the table. “This is everything you’ll need for your new identities. “

Akari grabbed the envelope with her name and spilled out its contents. The state ID caught her attention first, and she gave it a quick scan.

Akari Zeller. Female. Born: 3/45/854. Eyes: dark brown. Hair: dark brown. Height: 5’4. Weight: 110 lbs. Driving restrictions: corrective lenses.

Besides taking their pictures last week, Irina’s assistants had interviewed them for several hours. This ensured their information was either accurate or embellished in just the right ways. Speaking of accuracy …

“Why use our real names?” Akari asked.

“Why not?” Irina replied smoothly. “You aren’t fugitives.”

Kalden inspected his ID card from every angle. “So these are real?”

“Real enough,” she said. “You’re in the Koreldon’s databases now, so you’ll pass any checks the state can run. The same is true for your birth certificates and school records.”

Well, if Akari ever got back into hacking, she knew where to go for lessons. But that was a tangent. “What if someone recognizes our names?”

Irina shook her head. “If Ashur Moonfire didn’t recognize you, then I doubt anyone else will.”

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She’d already shared her dreams with the Darklights, including the part about Relia’s father in the diner. Akari wasn’t ready to bet her life against the man’s paizho face, but Elend and Irina suspected nothing. Whoever sent them to the Archipelago had erased everyone’s memories, including Senator Moonfire’s.

“What about Prime Minister Salerian?” Akari asked.

Irina gave her an annoyed look. “Not this again.”

“What?” she shrugged. “Someone have a better theory?”

In her dream, Ashur Moonfire had asked for the name of Last Haven’s enemy—the person her parents actively defied. Dream Akari responded with a six-syllable name. The sound left her mouth in a blur, and it sounded more like a rush of water than actual words.

She’d replayed this memory several times now, but nothing made it clearer. Elend had even tried some dream techniques to view the memory like a movie, and even he couldn’t break through.

Fortunately they still had a few clues. For one thing, Dream Akari had clearly thought of this name as an earth-shattering revelation. What was more shocking than Espiria’s prime minister? Alton Salerian was the most powerful Mana Artist on the continent—maybe even the world. He and Senator Moonfire belonged to the same political party, which made them allies. Even his name was six syllables, just like in the dream.

Irina’s Second Brain rotated like gears around her upper body. Tiny Missles flashed back and forth between the parts as she sent and retrieved information. “How much do you know about the Mystics, Miss Zeller?”

“They’re the strongest Mana Artists around.”

“Second strongest,” Relia cut in. “If you count the Angels.”

Not being religious, Akari saw no reason to count the Angels. Real or not, they didn’t seem to do much except lounge around behind metaphorical curtains.

“Anything else?” Irina asked.

Akari bit her lip. She knew there were other Mystics besides the prime minister, but she couldn’t remember specifics. In hindsight, she’d spent most of her time trying to prove her theory.

The older woman nodded. “Might want to brush up on your history and politics.” Then she turned to her husband. “We could use a map, if you’d be so kind.”

Dream mana swirled out from Elend’s hand, and the table became a lifelike rendering of Espiria, complete with forests, mountains, and rivers. Tiny waves crashed against the shore, and clouds drifted overhead. Tropical storms moved through the lower states while snow blew through the northern mountains.

“Really?” Irina said with an amused smile. “Weather? Some of us are trying to work here.”

Elend blew the clouds off the table. Glim appeared in the mirror across from Akari and gathered them in her arms like fluffy pillows.

Yeah … that definitely wasn’t how clouds worked. But she’d already known dream mana was the weirdest aspect.

“Anyway,” Irina said. “Espiria can be divided into five regions.”

Elend drew thicker borders and labels around several collections of states.

“Everyone in our government is elected, from the senators to the prime minister. The Mystics respect this system for the most part. They protect their regions from large-scale threats, but only the prime minister gets involved in the government.”

Akari scanned the map and saw one Mystic assigned to each of the five regions, with Prime Minister Salerian in the capital.

Elend raised a finger. “But when Mystics decide they want something, their senators and council members tend to vote accordingly.”

“And the Mystics have a pact,” Irina said. “If one gets too greedy, the others will rally against him. You’ve been to Creta, so you’ve seen what happens when one Mana Artist wields too much power.”

Akari gave a slow nod.

“My point is, there’s no reason for a sect like Last Haven to oppose a Mystic. Even if they did, why would someone like the Prime Minister Salerian strike back from the shadows? He has no motive.”

“Unless they got their hands on his secrets,” Akari said.

“Then why not erase their memories?” Irina retorted. “It would have been simpler in every way.”

Damnit. Akari furrowed her brow, glancing at everyone around the table. “You’re saying a Mystic didn’t attack our sect?”

“I’m saying it’s more complicated than that.”

Akari glanced back down at the map. “But we only have six suspects, right?”

“Oh no,” Irina said with a quick shake of her head. At the same time, Elend waved a hand, and the map zoomed out to reveal all five continents. “Espiria has six Mystics, Cadria has two, and Shoken has ten.”

Akari let out a breath. “Eighteen suspects, then.”

“Double that number, lass.” Elend tapped the map. “These are the ones who actually care about politics. The rest want to be left alone.”

“And there are thousands of Grandmasters out there,” Relia chimed in. “I once met some Grandmaster-level Blade Artists in a remote Cadrian village. They could be Mystics right now …”

“And no one would ever know,” Irina finished for her.

“Great,” Akari said. “Guess we’ll just sit around and wait for him to come back.” Her chest tightened as she imagined their enemy appearing in the sky once again. He could literally erase their memories at any time, and they’d be helpless to stop him.

“No one’s sitting around,” Irina said. “We know Relia’s father works for your attacker.” She gestured to her husband. “Elend and I will follow that lead. In the meantime, you should worry less about Mystics, and more about your studies.”

With that settled, they shifted back to the envelopes that contained their new identities. Officially, she and Kalden had spent the past few years living in Vaslana where they’d attended a prestigious private school. After graduation, they’d gotten involved in Creta’s civil war, and that’s where Elend had found them.

“You’ll need to memorize everything,” Irina said as they browsed the files. “We tried to keep it as close to life as possible, but we had to take certain liberties. Especially if Kalden’s aiming for the Artegium this year.”

Akari’s head snapped up. Just Kalden? She was about to open her mouth to ask, but Irina kept talking.

“In the bottom folder, you’ll find everything you need for your bank accounts. Each of you will have enough to cover basic expenses. This is common for any students who join a Grandmaster’s clan.”

“Speaking of money.” Kalden gestured to the papers on the table. “Does this make us in your debt?”

Akari hadn’t even thought of that. The last person to offer her money had been Kalden’s mom, and that had come with a nasty price tag.

Elend shook his head. “No one’s keeping score, lad. We all know you saved me from those Martials.”

Irina nodded her agreement. “You can cut ties with us at any time. We’ll still finance your tuition at the university, and find you a place to live.”

Relia gave Kalden a worried look. “But you are gonna stay … right?”

“Of course,” he said with a nod. “Just making sure we weren’t swearing oaths or something.” He tucked his ID and debit card in his leather wallet, then put the rest back in the envelope.

So, he had time to go wallet shopping, but no time to hang out? Akari had never owned a wallet before, but she knew Relia would drag her to the mall soon enough.

In the meantime, she gathered her things and trailed Elend out of the room. She fully intended to join Kalden in the Artegium this fall, even if she was still a Gold. That meant they had to talk.