Nico woke up the next day sitting up on his bed; the room was still covered in darkness. Yesterday night wasn't really a comfortable one for him. He had spent the night laying half asleep and half awake, closing and opening his eyes, swaying from side to side on his bunk bed.

He had been preoccupied with thoughts about Candidate 1 and how to meet up with him again. Nico felt Mr. Riven needed to know that their mother had not told his siblings and himself anything about going with Carter to ...