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I shake my head. “That wouldn’t help. I may have beat Earwyn and Mr. Brant, but there’s no way I could take on that many people.”

“From what I’ve heard, Queen Sirena did. People turned on her too.”

Great. Another similarity. Am I going to have to kill my peers as well as my dad?

Can I change my mind, and return to land? Surely my mom hasn’t had time to sell our house yet. Or I can move into Ivy’s closet, like we discussed before my parents dragged me to Valora.

The shouts outside the room grow louder. Fists bang on the door. Lots of them. The door shakes and moves back and forth.

“They’re going to break it down!” I cling to Bash. “What are we going to do?”

He looks around. “The window!”

I start to protest, but then I remember we’re in water. I won’t fall to my death. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

The door cracks. The banging grows louder.

“Hurry!”

We race to the window. It’s locked. I look back. The door cracks in another place.

Hands shaking, I twist the lock. Bash flings open the window.

The door shatters. The shouting grows louder as students file into the suite.

Bash shoves me out the window, then follows me.

We swim toward the woods.