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She clamped her mouth shut and interlocked her stiff fingers in her lap. If only she had better vision, so she could see what was written in that file.

At least two minutes passed by the time Glen finished with the papers. He raised his head and stared at her, as if daring her to try to speak again.

She didn’t.

“Miss Calla,” he began. While his volume was a little quieter, his tone was no less harsh. “From my understanding, you suffer from medical issues that you’ve been undergoing tests for since you were an infant. Is this correct?”

Her mouth dried out. Her eyes flicked to a red light flashing in the upper right-hand corner of the room. The camera was recording.

She swallowed. “Yes.”

Glen folded his arms on the table. “Can you explain to me what exactly it is that ails you?”

“The doctors don’t know,” she responded, reciting the speech she used to give to everyone, back before she’d learned the truth. Back when the Arcanum Well was nothing more than a legend, and she was nothing more than an ordinary human. Shespoke smoothly, lying so well she almost believed the lie herself. “They’ve run tests my whole life, but they’ve never found a name for it. I have problems with my blood sugar. It can dip without warning, so I need to carry prescription medication and eat or drink if I start to feel faint.” Lies were always easier when they were half-true.

Little did these jerks know there was so much more to it than that.

A beat of quiet as Glen scanned the papers. “I see you fell into a coma a few weeks ago. Was this situation related in any way to these health issues you speak of?” Gods, how deeply had they dug? Andwhy?

She managed a shallow nod?—

The other man said, “We’re going to need you to give us a verbal response.”

“Yes.” Her voice was a crackle.

“What were you doing in Yveswich?” Glen asked her.

Her heart tripped into a faster rhythm, her palms slick with sweat. “I was…taken to Yveswich…”Half-truths,she told herself.Tell them half-truths.“To receive treatment. To help wake me up.” She tugged on her jacket sleeves. “Out of a coma,” she added.

“Taken…,” Glen repeated. He picked her appearance apart with narrowed eyes. When his attention snagged on her Avertera talisman, Loren squeezed her hands into fists. “By your boyfriend?”

She set her jaw, her heart racing so fast she felt sick. Her knee bounced under the table.

“Darien Casselisyour boyfriend,” Glen prompted, his eyes once again dipping to her talisman. “Is he not?”

Her lungs were tight, her hands sweaty. She could no longer find her voice.

“I see no reason why this has to be difficult, Miss Calla. You seem like a nice girl.” He fanned the edge of the stack of papers with his thumb, as if doing so backed up his statement. “You have no criminal record. Good grades. You attend one of the most prestigious universities in Terra and come from a respected military family. Though I must say, the company you keep is…” His upper lip curled back. “Questionable.”

She stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means!” he retorted. “And if you want to see yourboyfriend—”He practically spat the word, his face turning red with rage. “—ever again, you’re going to need to be honest with us.”

An icy tremor wobbled through her. “What do you mean if I want to see him again?” Her words were hollow. Brittle, like her mortal bones.

It was the other man who said, “You don’t want him to go to jail, do you?”

“Why would he go to jail?” she demanded. “You’d lock him up for taking me to a medical establishment? Since when is that illegal?—”

“Thatestablishmentis currently under investigation,” Glen countered sharply. “Street cameras caught your boyfriend and his pals heading into Caliginous on Silverway on the night of the explosion.” He thumbed three photographs free of the folder and slid them across the table so she could see them. “Have a look, Miss Calla. Tell me I’m wrong,” he dared her.

She leaned forward…

Sure enough, camerashadcaught Darien, Roman, Jack, and Tanner going in there. Evidence Tanner would certainly have gone on to erase, had the Well replica not exploded and foiled their plans. Whether these men were aware that Max and Dallas had gone in there too, she didn’t know. Wherever they were, she hoped they were okay.

Glen was watching her with cold, cold eyes. “You want to tell me what, exactly, they were doing here?” He stabbed one of the photographs with the end of his pen.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured, shaking her head. “You think they’re responsible for the explosion?”