Selah's went fast, because Soren had already broken it in the spring and she refused to perform it twice.
"Every overload was staged," she said. "I've had perfect control since the winter of first year. The system reads instability and prescribes grounding. Grounding means him. So I supplied instability."
Maren's fork stopped halfway to her mouth.
"The cafeteria," Maren said. "The one where you nearly froze to death and I had to wrap around your back."
"That one was real."
"How do I know that?"
"Because I was unconscious for it and I'm not good enough to fake unconscious." Selah sipped her tea. "The other eleven were staged."
"Eleven?"
"Approximately eleven. I stopped counting so I wouldn't have to know the number."
Maren put the fork down.
"You're worse than Dani."
"I'm more efficient than Dani. Dani used a delay. I used a body."
◆◆◆◆
"Fine," Maren said. "Fine. Great. Everybody's a monster."
She stood up.
Sat down.
