“And he was right,” Sabine said, pulling strands of my hair between her fingers to measure their length. “You chose Shay.”

“What?” This time the scissors did scratch my neck. “Ow!”

“Don’t jerk like that.” Sabine tilted my head. “No blood. I’m still cutting.”

“I didn’t choose Shay,” I said, fingering the tender skin. “I was saving his life.”

“I didn’t mean the sacrifice,” Sabine said. “I meant last night.”

I managed not to skewer myself on the scissors, but I gripped the edges of the chair.

“Last night?” My whisper came out hoarse.

“Sabine.” Bryn kicked her shin. “Don’t.”

“I’m not judging,” Sabine said. “She’s within her rights. Shay’s an alpha. That means he’s a contender. Plus I’ve seen his shoulders. I’d let Shay take me for a ride if he offered.”

“Sabine!” Bryn shrieked, staring at me in horror.

But I was too shocked to be angry.

“How do you—” My cheeks were on fire.

“You smell like him.” Sabine smirked. “That’s the other thing. He smells good, doesn’t he? What does he taste like?”

Bryn turned her back, but I was pretty sure it was to hide her grin because I could hear her laughing. “Stop, Sabine. Just stop.”

“I took a shower!” I wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

Sabine chuckled. “It doesn’t matter.”

I cast a sidelong glance at Bryn. She was doing her best to twist her lips out of a silly smile.

“It’s not like you smell bad, Cal,” she said, trying to make me feel better. “And Sabine is right. Shay has a nice smell. You know, like a garden.”

“Oh my God.” I dropped my face into my hands.

“Well, I’m not going to be able to do anything with your hair if you stay like that,” Sabine said, giggling.

“Fine.” Squaring my shoulders, I sat up and took a deep breath. “Just finish it. And no more talking about last night.”

“Really?”

I bared my teeth at how disappointed Bryn sounded.

“Calla, I’m trying to tell you, you probably did the right thing.” Sabine moved to shape the layers near my face. “Ren made a mistake. If he wanted you so much, he should have come here. He should have been here to fight for you.”

I stared at my hands, embarrassed by the hot stinging in my eyes.

“Calla.” Glancing up, I met Sabine’s gaze in the mirror. “Don’t blame yourself for Ren. We all know you cared about him. He made his choice. We all made our choices.”

I stared at her and then at my own reflection. Pale blond hair framed my face in soft layers that tapered from mycheekbones, falling just short of my shoulders. My lip quivered.

“You made me look beautiful.”

“I didn’t do much.” Sabine set the scissors aside and brushed stray hairs from my shoulders. “That’s just who you are.”

I opened my mouth, but words didn’t emerge, only a choked sob.

“God, don’t blubber, Calla. You’re supposed to be an alpha,” Sabine grumbled. But then she squeezed my shoulder and quietly left the room, letting Bryn wrap her arms around me while I continued to cry.

Bryn left my side, coming back with a tissue.

“So when did Sabine get a personality transplant?” I said. “I could have sworn she was just nice. Kind of.”

“She is nice.” Bryn smiled sadly. “When you’re locked in a cell with someone for several days, you learn a lot about them. Sabine wasn’t ever the bitch we thought she was. She was just angry. Really angry. The things she had to . . .”

She shuddered. “She has a lot to be angry about.”

Bryn was right. Of all the young Guardians, Sabine’s life had been the worst, but somehow I was the one crying. I blew my nose, then looked at her, still sniffling. “You must think I’m pathetic.”

“Hardly,” Bryn said. “We’ve all been through a lot. And if it had been me, I would have done the same thing.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But I don’t know how you can say that. You don’t know what happened.”

“Connor filled us in,” she said. “And Silas kept interrupting, trying to explain the history of all of it. He’s really weird, huh?”

“Yeah, he is,” I said. “What did Connor tell you?”

“Well, I guess he couldn’t tell us how you felt,” she said. “But it’s easy enough to imagine. He told us who Shay is and why he’s so important.”

“Did he tell you about the alliance?” I asked, already nervous that any alliance between Guardians and Searchers was off the table.

She nodded. “It sounds like they can teach us some pretty amazing things.”

“Like what?” This was new. I tossed the crumpled tissue into the trash bin.

“Combat, magic. Our real history.” She crossed the room, shaking her head. “It’s still hard to believe. All the lies.”

“I know.”

“For all their magic, I wish the Searchers could do something for Ansel.” She was at the window, staring at the rolling surface of the ocean, now a gleaming turquoise under the bright morning sun.

“So do I.”

“They’re treating him well,” she said, running her fingertips over the gauzy drapes. “He’s not in a cell. It’s just a small bedroom.”