Page 178 of The Fifth Heir

“That could describe many innocent activities.”

“You also have a piece of black metal under your coat.”

I looked down.

The wrapped channel had shifted, exposing one end.

“Very observant.”

“I was a relic keeper.”

“You still are.”

The answer escaped before I considered it. A torc and a place in the Trials had not erased the woman who could identify a hidden mechanism from dust on my coat. I did not want her to think becoming an heir required surrendering that part of herself.

The orange light softened.

The distinction mattered to her. I filed that away somewhere I wouldn’t admit existed.

“I found the correct return channels,” I said.

Talia stood.

The others woke when she called their names.

Torren entered first, already pulling on a shirt. Sebastian appeared through Shadow a moment later. Leander arrived last, his hair disordered enough to prove he had actually slept.

I placed the outward channel and storage note on the common-room table.

Sebastian reached for the metal.

“Don’t touch it,” Talia said.

He stopped.

I smiled. “He’s learning.”

She retrieved a pair of protective gloves from the study and handed them to him. Then she put on a second pair and examined the storage note.

Leander read over her shoulder.

“What does this prove?” Torren asked.

“The issue ledger lists eight outward return channels,” I said. “This is one of them. All eight were returned after installation.”

Sebastian activated a thread of Shadow over the directional mark. A small arrow appeared, pointing away from the center connection.

“The installed channels pointed inward,” he said.

“Without inventory codes,” Talia added.

Leander looked toward me. “You broke into a sealed evidence store.”

“Yes.”

“The headmaster explicitly prohibited entry.”

“He prohibited entry through the doors.”