"If he smells my fate, then maybe it's time I learn what that fate actually is," I said, my voice hardening as I refused to let his cryptic warnings back me into a corner.

Mr. Cartwright didn't answer. He simply turned back to his desk, the heavy silence in the room signaling that the briefing was officially over. The rigid set of his shoulders told me everything I needed to know: the conversation was dead, and the wall of secrets guarding my past wasn't going to breach today.

I glanced ...