A nod. She doesn't seem surprised by this; the answer was what she expected.

Still worth a try.

"There's something you have to understand," she says, wiggling a bit out of the shrug that she's wearing. "Steven's gem . . . he's half like me. I have one of them too."

Twisting a little, she reveals the bared gem between her shoulderblades, pure and vibrant blue, burrowed into her back as though it had been implanted.

"It means . . . I can change."

This feels awkward. But she's not sure how else to begin to explain it to him.