The walk to the bus stop was cold. The wind cut through Dallas's hoodie.
Her mother's words echoed in her head. Useless. Waste of space.
She sat on the bench. She pulled out her phone. She opened the application for Capitol University. The Ivy League of the state.
She scrolled through the requirements. GPA: 4.0. SAT: 1500+.
She had a 0.0 GPA.
She closed the tab.
She opened another app. A secure terminal.
She typed a message to a user named Ghost.
Target: Inger Bentley. Asset verification.
She hesitated. She could ruin her mother. She could drain Inger's accounts, expose her affairs, destroy her social standing with a few keystrokes.
Her thumb hovered over Enter.
She took a breath.
No. That was Black Eagle's style. Not hers.
She deleted the command.
The bus arrived. She got on.
Back at the dorm, the room was dark. Whitney and Sloan were asleep.
Dallas lay on her bed. She stared at the ceiling.
She thought about Erika's violin playing. The lack of soul.
She thought about Inger's wine glass.
She thought about Fielding Pickett's eyes.
"Birthmarks don't usually have perfect topological precision."
He knew. Or he suspected.
She rolled over. She pulled the blanket up to her chin.
She needed to be careful. She needed to be invisible.
But inside, the fire was still burning.
