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falling from the headmistress’s good graces, forlorn at the thought of ever failing her again. Drones.
    With that, the headmistress glided away. Caz glared at her back, remembering the stupid, smug look on her face. Her work was done, her students pacified. All was right in her precious academy. Caz shoved her hands into her pockets to keep them from doing something she was sure to regret.
    Vin looked apologetically at Caz. She narrowed her eyes. She should make him suffer for this. In fact, anyone else but Vin would suffer for the rest of their lives for making her undergo a serenity lobotomy. She already had something special planned for Zak Faras.
    But Vin was, well, he was Vin.
    Caz swiped at her mouth and dropped her eyes. A small, gray spider scurried across her shoe, a deserter from the envirophylum. Anger and resentment welled inside her. Spiders didn’t inhabit Retha naturally. They were protected, along with the other lower-dimensional elements residing in the nearby envirophylum. In fact, the spider was a trespasser in her world, every bit as much as Madame Vislane had been by entering her mind. Caz allowed the depths of her emotions to rise to her eyes, and trained them on Madame Vislane’s retreating figure.
    Caz stomped her foot once. The spider flipped off her foot. She crouched and snatched it from the ground by one leg before it could scurry away. Xander and Vin argued quietly above her, their words lost behind the angry swish of blood in her ears.
    She couldn’t allow her emotions to override her good sense. There was no place on Retha for those who couldn’t conform to the rules of etiquette and serenity. The spider turned and curled, trying to escape. One of the spindly legs gripped her finger. Caz delicately plucked the leg from its body, rolled it between finger and thumb, and then cast it to the ground.
    A person who couldn’t conform was exiled to a lower dimension, their bodies scoured of the metals that allowed them to wield electrical currents. Like former commandant Ben Attikin. Caz shuddered. How could a person live without metals—without voltage? The very thought must be what kept the drones in their places. Caz released a frustrated breath.
    She pulled the remaining legs from the spider and dropped the body near the legs. Caz stood and was met by a revolted look from Xander. The corner of Vin’s mouth twitched upward in a furtive smile.
    That was all that it took. She gave Vin a cool smirk. She could fake things a little longer. For Vin. Better a fake than a drone, anyway. She crushed the still-wriggling body of the spider with her heel.
    Take that, conformity. Long live the mutineers.

CHAPTER 6
Rose
    My body lay heavy against a rocky surface. I was fairly certain I had arms, legs, and a torso, but that was the extent of my knowledge. There was a nudge against my foot. Then another. I blinked. The bright sunlight made my head cry for mercy, and I squeezed my eyes shut again.
    Nudge, nudge. Harder this time. Something in my mind warned me against opening my eyes. I pried them open anyway and grunted in pain. My hand went to the base of my skull, and I tested a tender, grenade-sized lump. The muscles in my face worked into a grimace, informing me that my cheek was terribly bruised.
    Something bright flashed in my eyes. My vision went in and out of focus before solidifying on a set of swinging dog tags. A small, half circle pendant about the size of my thumb shone against the duller metal of the tags. My hand went to my throat, touching the naked skin. My tags. My dad’s pendant. I grabbed for them.
    “Wakey, wakey, Kris.” Justet pulled the tags out of my reach.
    Memories of the night before crowded my brain. I groaned and rolled myself into a sitting position. Dry dust stirred in the air. I coughed, but stopped immediately when it sent my head throbbing in mighty pain. I held perfectly still, willing the feeling to subside before my stomach emptied its contents all over my