The ceremony takes place at dark. We wear thick, black robes and four to six of us stand around fires.

Amari and Sasha hold hands, waiting for one of the professors to come anoint their union.

Ryan and I stand side by side, not looking at each other. This ceremony is a little too intimate for near strangers.

Singh presides over the whole ceremony, standing in the center. She keeps her back to my group.

Tae and Tomas aren't too far away, and I keep catching their eyes across the flames.

Miss Night is the one to approach our group. She must've bribed another professor so she could talk with me again after yesterday.

She smiles at Amari and Sasha. "Alright girls, you ready?"

Sasha beams and offers their joined hands. "Yes, please."

Amari hides a small smile and rubs the back of her neck.

Miss Night wraps a rope around their bound hands and starts to murmur in Latin.

From behind me, at the entrance of the camp, I hear shouting.

Singh's shoulders tighten and she almost turns before remembering I'm behind her.

"Let go of me!"

"Mr. Singh, please! Your mother expressly forbid your attendance tonight!"

"Bullshit! Look! My Hunter is right there! Mas-!" Tarak's voice dies in his throat when Ryan grabs my arm.

I glance over my shoulder at him, then turn away. I figure that's all I need to do to get him to give up.

Instead, it seems all I've managed to do is piss him off.

His hand coils around my wrist and he yanks me away from Ryan. He places himself between us, back to my chest, lip lifted at Ryan. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you need to back off."

"It's pretty obvious Mason doesn't want you anymore, Tarak. Let it go," Ryan hisses.

A lump forms in my throat.

"Let it-? You think this is funny!? You two don't even know each other!"

"That's enough."

Tarak jolts at his mother's voice.

She appears at his side and reaches for his arm.

He starts to tremble against my chest. "No," he rasps.

"It's time to leave," Singh hisses. "You're causing a scene."

"I won't go," Tarak snarls, tightening his grip on my arm, held behind his back.

Singh inhales sharply and steps towards him. "Excuse you? Leave now or I make you leave."

Tarak's jaw tremors as he opens his mouth. "I've never asked you for anything, Janani. Please."

"Even if Mason didn't request a new Protector, you were holding him back. It's time he goes where he belongs. In the field."

"No!" Tarak steps towards her, crazed. He releases my arm to bring his hands together, pleading. "Not without me! I can graduate, I promise! I'll take the tests again! Right now!"

Singh seizes his upper arm.

Tarak yelps and tries to leap away, but her grip is firm.

"I've had enough of your outbursts," she hisses, starting to pull him away.

Before I can think about what I'm doing, I lunge. My hand coils around Tarak's and I yank him back towards me.

Singh's hand snaps off him as I drag him behind me. She turns her eyes on me, blazing.

"The other students need your assistance with the ceremony, Headmistress Singh. I'm sure your highly trained security officers can handle something as simple as a boy being a nuisance, right?"

She grinds her teeth together, but spins on her heel and marches back into the center of the camp.

Tarak lets out a heavy sigh, "I'm so glad you changed your mind."

"What are you talking about?" I turn on him.

He studies my eyes. "You-you pick me, don't you?"

I glance over his shoulder, to Ryan, who meets my gaze. "No, Tarak."

Tarak's expression crumples.

"I did that to honor what friendship we used to have. But I'm not going to bond with you."

"I made a mistake, Mason. You can't seriously be willing to bond with a complete stranger for a year because of one mistake!"

"It wasn't one mistake. I don't trust you anymore, Tarak."

"I'll take care of him."

Tarak's eyes are wild when he turns on Ryan. "You stay out of this." He turns back to me, taking my hands. "Mason, I know you. I know this isn't what you want."

I pull my hands back, standing taller. The sigh that comes from me could be one of Augustus's. The sighs they make when they can't tell me something. The deep ache and agony of loss, and despair, and maybe a little resentment. "You've been a good friend to me. But this-?" I nod around at the others being bound. "I can't do this with you, Tarak. It's too much to ask."

"Too much?" Tarak asks, his voice low and shaky. His eyes water as he takes me in. "Mason, I swear to you. I am done with the lies. I'm done with her." He says this quietly, eyes flitting to his mother, who doesn't react. He grabs my hand again. "Give me another chance."

I look down at his hand gripping mine.

It would be the easy choice to go with Tarak. I know Tarak. I don't know Ryan.

But knowing Tarak is part of the problem.

Loving him is part of the problem.

I pull my hand away again, forcing back tears. My eyes burn. My head aches as I search his eyes. "I can't fight a war with you in the middle, Tarak."

He shakes his head. "I'm not in the middle."

"You are," I whisper. "Whether you say you're with me or not, you're always going to look to her. She's your mother, Tarak. Unless you can tell me you wouldn't hesitate to fight back. For me. For Amari. For Sasha. Unless you can turn your back, without a second thought, you are in the middle, Tarak."

There's more I want to say. There will always be more I want to say. He deserves more. But not here. Not with Ryan peering over Tarak's shoulder at me. Not with Tae and Tomas's eyes drilling into me from across the room.

Not with Sasha and Amari holding their breaths, waiting for me to make the decision they want me to make.

"I have to finish this."

Tarak shakes his head. "You don't."

I sigh. This time it feels like it is Augustus's sigh. "This is bigger than you. Personal happiness means nothing in light of saving the world."

"The world doesn't need saving," Tarak is pleading. Tears slip down his cheeks. "You don't need to save it."

My fingers twitch as I force myself not to wipe his tears away. I look down. "You're wrong." I reach past him, taking Ryan's hand.

Tarak's breaths wheeze out of him. "Don't," he begs, grabbing my shoulder.

Miss Night poises the rope over mine and Ryan's hands. She stares at me, hard. "Is this what you want?"

I hold her gaze steady. "Yes."

Tarak sobs and drops his head against my shoulder.

The bond with Ryan is hot and painful. It rips through my core like a knife.

I keep my jaw locked, even as Ryan grimaces and tightens his grip on my hand.

"It didn't feel like this last time," Ryan groans, when Miss Night is finished.

Her eyes scan him. They're so dark, they seem to absorb the firelight nearby. "It shouldn't hurt," she says, voice tight.

Ryan lets out a shaky breath and looks away, bowing his head.

Miss Night glances at me, then slips away.

"This isn't over," Tarak says. Tears are still tracing their way down his cheeks, but he seems composed now.

Ryan lifts his chin, staring Tarak down. "Seems like it is." He raises our joined hands. "At least for a year."

I pull my hand away and leave the tent without a word. By the time I've made it to the maze, I know Tarak is behind me. I knew when I left the tent that he'd follow.

Maybe I wanted him to.

We're to the center of the maze, completely alone, before he speaks.

"You're the one who made a mistake now, Mason."

I don't look at him. I keep my hands balled into fists at my sides. "And? It's over now, Tarak. Let it go."

His warmth eases closer. He slips his hand over my fist, running his fingers over my knuckles. His breath warms the back of my neck. "It's not over," he insists.

"How can you say that? I'm bound to someone else now. Even if I wanted to, there's no reversing that."

"For now. But I can be patient when I need to be, Mason." He slips his fingers into my fist. "I will prove to you that I am the man you knew. I am still someone you can trust."

I finally turn to him. I don't stop him when he takes my hand again. "What does trust matter, Tarak?"

He stares as the tears finally fall down my cheeks.

"There's no end to this where I survive."

His eyes widen and his grip tightens on my hand. "Don't you say that. Don't. You are not dying, Mason. I swear. I don't care what I have to do. I am not losing you."

I lift my hand, even though I'm not sure I wanted to. I cup his face and it feels too intimate for the anger in my chest. "The world as we know it is ending. I am nothing more than a harbinger of that end. It doesn't matter how desperately you want me to live. It has always been my destiny to give myself to this."

I don't know where this is coming from. They taste like my words, not Augustus's. But at the same time, they're not mine either. Or at least words I shouldn't know or... remember.

Tarak closes his eyes and leans into my hand. "No," he says, firmly. His eyes open again and meet mine. There's not a trace of doubt in them. "I don't care about destiny or the world ending. This is about you and me. We are a team, same as we've always been."

"She's your mother," I whisper.

He shakes his head. "And yet, she doesn't love me." He looks away. It's not me he's speaking to when he says, "I'm just another soldier." He exhales, then sniffs, and smiles, still not at me. "She chose her side. It's time I choose mine."

"You can't choose because of me," I whisper. I look down. "I know how much you want her approval. I know what it's like to want to hate your parents, but not be able to. I can't be the reason you leave her side, Tarak. Even if it means we lose each other."

His brows pinch together and he nods. "Then, I'll find a reason that isn't you. I just need to know you'll be there if I choose to fight against her. Or-or someone will be there for me."

"Of course. Sasha and Amari already disagreed with my decision to bond with Ryan."

"Just Sasha and Amari?"

"And me," I blow out a breath.

He smiles, and the air feels electric. He squeezes my hand and steps back. "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

"You give me strength," he says, voice quiet. "You give me somewhere to fall if this goes wrong."

"I just hope you're ready for when it does."

He swallows and nods. "I guess we'll see. When it does."