Twenty-six.

"OCHRE!" I LET OUT A STRANGLED YELP AND THROW MY arms around him.

"What are you doing here?" I say.

"What are you doing here?" he says. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Jewel?"

I release him. "It's a long story."

He glances behind me. "Isn't that the companion everyone's looking for?"

"He's part of the story," I say.

"How do you know this boy?" the Whistler asks.

"He's my brother," I say. "Ochre, how is Hazel? And Mother? Are they all right?"

"Hazel's going to have to be tested soon," Ochre says. My heart sinks to settle somewhere around my knees.

"Mother isn't handling it well," he adds.

I shudder. My mother doesn't even know the worst of it.

Maybe the new date is a gift. Maybe Hazel won't have time to be tested.

If I can stop the Auction before Hazel even gets a chance to be diagnosed, she'll never have to go through what I went through.

"Can someone please explain what happened here?" the bad-tempered man says. "Is she some sort of . . . witch?"

I forgot I was in the middle of proving myself to these people. "I'm not a witch," I say. "More like . . ." I try to think of how I can explain it. "Like a conduit. I can call on the elements. This island has been torn up by the royalty. It wants to help. Don't you see? This thing is bigger than all of us." I don't know how much to say-do I tell them about the Paladin and the original conquering of the island?

Many faces are definitely looking at me like I'm crazy. But a few seem intrigued.

"What else can you do?" the blond boy asks.

"I'd like to know that, too," Ochre says. "Is that what they teach you at Southgate?"

"No," I say. "That's what they intentionally don't teach us at Southgate. But with all the surrogates working together, we can take on their army. We can get inside the Jewel and destroy it from the inside."

"No one breathes a word about this to anyone," Sil says. "Or the Black Key will hear about it."

"Does the Black Key know about this?" someone asks.

"Of course he knows," Sil scoffs.

"Why didn't he tell us?"

"He doesn't tell anyone a damned thing if he doesn't want to," Sil says. "And look at your faces now. You wouldn't have believed him if he did. You have to see it for yourself."

"It's late," the bald man with the newspaper says. "And we've settled what needs to be settled. Training will start tomorrow night." He glances at me warily. "If the Black Key accepts this surrogate, so will we."

People begin to leave, in twos and threes, spacing it out over time so there isn't a huge exodus from the tattoo parlor in the dead of night. That could easily arouse suspicion.

The Annabelle-girl leaves with the brother and sister. The boy leans over to me as he walks past and whispers, "My name's Millet."

I smile. That's one person on my side.

Slowly, the crowd dwindles until there's only me, Ochre, Sil, Ash, and the Whistler left.

I don't want Ochre to leave, but I know he has to. "You can't tell Mother or Hazel you've seen me," I say. "It's too dangerous."

He nods. "I know."

"How did you get involved in this anyway?"

"Sable Tersing," he says. "There are lots of boys our age who are angry-we get treated worse than the animals at the dairy. They've started docking our pay for no reason at all. They whip us if we show up even a minute late. We wanted to do something, to push back, and Sable said he'd heard about this Society that was secretly undermining the royalty but we didn't know how to find it. He said he'd heard something about a black key, so we started drawing them everywhere. That's when the Whistler came to see us. Told us we could stop vandalizing and actually do something."

"You can't seriously expect I'd let you fight, Ochre," I say. "You're only fourteen."

"And you're only sixteen," he says. "And it looks like you're in the thick of this thing, whatever it is."

"It's too dangerous," I say.

"You're not Mother," he insists.

"Mother would agree with me."

"Well, it's a good thing she's not here then."

I open my mouth to protest, but Sil cuts me off. "As charming as this family reunion is," she says, "we have to be getting home."

"Wait," Ash says. "There's something I have to do first."

"What?" I ask.

He looks at the Whistler. "I'm going to need one of those key tattoos."

"DOES IT HURT?"

Ash places his hand gently on his shoulder, where the Whistler put the bandage after he'd burned Lucien's symbol into Ash's skin. The cart rolls over a rut, and Ash winces.

"It's just a little sore," he says.

I'm freezing and exhausted by the time we get back to the White Rose. And I desperately miss my brother. The short time with him only made me yearn for home. It must be nearly three o'clock in the morning, but there is a light on in the living room.

Raven is awake in the rocking chair. Sienna must have gone to bed.

"How did it go?" she asks, putting down the book she was reading.

"I saw Ochre," I say.

She sits up. "What? What was he doing there?"

"Joining the forces of the Black Key."

"How was he? How are your mother and Hazel?"

The arcana begins to buzz. I yank it out of the knot at the base of my neck.

"Something has happened." Lucien's voice is exhausted but tense.

"Are you talking about the Auction?" I say. "I went to a meeting with Sil tonight, they're saying the date has been changed. Do you know why?"

"Someone has betrayed me."

"What?" I gasp. "Who?"

"It will be dealt with," Lucien says. "And the informant only knew a small piece of this puzzle-that the October date would not be safe. But it gave the Electress the very excuse she needed."

"Excuse for what?"

"She wishes for her daughter to succeed the throne," he says. "You and I know the Duchess foiled any plans for her to have a daughter from the last Auction. Now she has another chance. Unfortunately, this means our timetable has been moved up considerably."

"But we still don't have girls from Eastgate and Westgate yet."

"They will be arriving on tomorrow's train. I didn't have time to vet them properly-I hope they will be sufficient."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." I bite my lip. "Lucien, the people at the meeting tonight . . . they were frightened of me."

"Did you show them your power?" he asks.

"Yes."

There is a pause.

"They simply do not understand you," he says.

"They loved Ash," I say with a grin. Ash makes a face and I can practically hear Lucien rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure they did."

"He's going to help train them, you know. To fight."

Raven raises an eyebrow at Ash, and he shrugs.

"That's . . . fantastic." Lucien's sarcasm is palpable.

"I'd like to go to more meetings," I say. "I want to know the people I'm fighting with."

"You can discuss that with Sil," Lucien says. "But for now, remember your purpose. Train the other surrogates."

The arcana drops into my palm.

"So," Raven says to Ash, "you're going to be the new major general of the Black Key's army?"

He laughs. "I'm glad I can finally do something."

"You know how to fight."

"Yes."

"Can you teach me, too?"

"I . . ." Ash frowns and glances at me.

"Raven," I say. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

She levels me with her glare. "I want to be strong. I want my body to feel strong again."

It's her decision. After all she's been through, she's earned it. "All right," I say. Then I let out a huge yawn.

"We all better get some sleep," Ash says. "Especially since it seems we're getting some new additions tomorrow."

As Raven heads upstairs to bed, and Ash and I make our way out to the barn, I can't help hoping that whoever comes tomorrow will be as bold as Sienna, kind as Lily, and smart as Raven.

We'll show all the people in this city.

Surrogates are not just silly girls, to be bought and sold and treated like pets or furniture.

We are a force to be reckoned with.

Twenty-seven.

SIL AND I FETCH THE CRATES FROM BARTLETT STATION the next day at noon.