The capital fell away behind us. Mercury drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting in her lap. I sat in the front passenger seat, the city lights fading in the side mirror as we left the main roads.

"You see how many armored cars are heading into the capital?" she asked as four passed in the direction we’d come from, their headlights cutting sharp beams through the bright afternoon.

"Yeah. Government, probably," I said, watching the road ahead.

"It’s strange." Mercury frowned, fingers tapping lightly on the wheel. "First time I’ve ever seen that inside the walls."

"Really?"

The system had already flagged the day. Riya’s unfinished letter had seemed to warn about the awakening too. Maybe the revolution had started and things were moving behind my back. I couldn’t tell.

"So why’s May throwing a party?" I asked as we turned off onto a quieter road.

"No real reason," Mercury said, glancing at me with a small smile. "Probably because School Central’s closing. Nobody can say for sure. It’s just a party."

"Strange she didn’t invite me."

"She figured you and Sherry were buried at CGI. But she said you’d show up without an invite anyway." Mercury smiled wider, eyes crinkling at the corners.

That’s exactly what probability manipulation does, I thought.

"Yeah," I said. "Though I doubt she’d have invited Sherry even if she weren’t at CGI."

That got a laugh out of Mercury, bright and easy, her shoulders shaking slightly as she drove.

"We’re stopping at my place quick," she said, pulling over at a building on the edge of the capital. "I need to change."

"Thought you said you lived in the capital now."

"I have three places." She slid out of the car, the door clicking shut behind her. "You staying in the car, or coming up?"

"Let’s go," I said.

"You should see where your friend lives anyway." She added, before I’d finished. "Relax. We’re not going to fuck."

I got out.

***

Her apartment was surprisingly orderly for someone who lived as loosely as Mercury did. The living room was clean, soft natural light from the windows casting warm pools across the furniture. A large framed photograph hung on the wall.

"Make yourself at home," she said as I dropped into the loveseat. "Back in a minute."

She disappeared into the other room to get ready. My eyes moved around the space, and they stopped on the photograph. I hadn’t noticed it when we came in.

I looked at it for a long moment. Monica Veyron stared back from the frame, regal and composed, the same face I’d seen in Eleanor’s vision.

Why does Mercury have Monica Veyron’s picture in her apartment?

Riya’s warning came back to me, clear and cold. Be very careful with the Veyron girl you traveled with on the Fallen City mission.

I’d come back with Sherry, Harmione, May, and Mercury. None of them a Veyron that I knew of.

Could it be Mercury?

I sat very still in the loveseat, the woman who’d made me laugh all afternoon getting changed one room away, and the photograph watching me from the wall.

Mercury. Three homes. A non-ability user who somehow walked out of the Fallen City alive. Who are you?

"How do I look?"

Her voice pulled me out of it. She wore a long dark red dress, the slit running high up her thigh, more feminine than I’d ever seen her. The fabric caught the light from the window, shifting like liquid as she turned.

"You look beautiful," I said.

"Beautiful?" She made a face, wrinkling her nose. "I was hoping for gorgeous. Hold on." She disappeared back into the room, the hem of the dress swishing around her legs.

Do girls really do this? My eyes drifted back to the photo on the wall.

"What about this one?"

Black this time, hair pulled up into a puff. The dress hugged her figure, the color sharp against her skin.

"That’s the one," I said. "You look gorgeous."

"Don’t lie to me." She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head as she studied my face. "I can read it in your face, Bram."

She went back in, and we did the whole thing twice more before she settled on the dark red dress she’d started with, the color matched to her lipstick. She smoothed the fabric down one last time, turning in front of the mirror.

"Okay. Let’s go." She grabbed her bag, then looked at me. "Why are you still sitting? We’re late."

Wow!! The irony.

She was already at the door before I stood up.

Back in the car, on the road, but my mind hadn’t left that photograph.

"Who’s the woman in the picture at your place?" I asked.

She glanced at me, then back at the road, one hand resting lightly on the wheel. "Monica Veyron." She turned off onto another road, the distant thump of party music starting to carry ahead of us. "You remember when Richard tied me up and left my pussy on full display for the whole plain?"

"I remember every detail," I said.

"Every detail? Now I’m worried, because my pussy was part of that detail." She let it sit for a second, then her voice softened. "You showed up. You untied me. You got me out of it."

"Did I?"

"Yeah." She nodded, eyes on the road. "That’s what Monica did for me. Paid for my education, looked after me since I was small. She’s my hero."

"So you’re related?"

"No. Not blood." Then the usual Mercury slid back over her face, grin returning. "I think we’re here."

Was Riya talking about someone who carried the Veyron name... or someone connected to the Veyrons? I turned it over in my head. She’d said the Veyron girl I traveled with. Whatever she meant, I’d find out. Mercury wasn’t the only one. I’d have to check every girl from the Fallen City mission before I settled on anyone.

The music was loud as we pulled in, bass thumping through the open windows of the house ahead.

"Come on." She brightened, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Let’s actually enjoy something for once."

[You don’t have time for this. Not now. Stay aligned with your purpose.]

Just let me live once.

I got out of the car.