Page 75 of Bone Year

He doesn’t look convinced but doesn’t push either. His thumb traces a small circle on my knee, and I lean into him slightly, letting his warmth ground me. This is what I need, this boy who has known me since we were children, who doesn’t need me to explain myself, who accepts that sometimes I disappear inside my own head.

“Did you guys hear about the breath year?” Ellavee asks, reaching for the bread basket.

“What breath year?” Lux is still fuming about the bandage incident.

“Cassia Venn was doing onsite work at a fissure in the Shorelands.” Ellavee tears off a piece of bread, casual as anything. “Didn’t make it back.”

The table goes quiet.

“What happened?” Jace asks.

“I don’t know the details.” Ellavee shrugs, but there’s something tight around her eyes. “Crawler attack maybe, or the fissure shifted. Does it matter?”

“How do you always know these things before everyone else?” Lux narrows her eyes at Ellavee. “Seriously, a student dies, and you hear about it before the professors even make an announcement.”

Ellavee smiles, brushing her blonde hair off her shoulder, that knowing smile she gets when she’s keeping secrets. “I pay attention. You should try it sometime.”

“To what? You lurk around corners listening to people?”

“I prefer the term ‘observing.’” Ellavee takes a bite of bread. “You’d be amazed what people say when they think no one important is listening.”

There’s something I’ve noticed before but never pressed on. Ellavee knows too many things. I’ve never asked how or why, and she’s never offered to explain. Maybe it’s from all of her late-night hookups she never gives us details about.

It shouldn’t surprise me that people die here. That’s what everyone keeps saying. But hearing it spoken so plainly about someone who was walking these halls days ago makes me sick.

“I didn’t know her,” Lux says quietly, “but still.”

“Yeah.” Ellavee nods. “Still.”

The noise of the dining hall feels louder now, all those voices and lives continuing on like nothing happened. Because for them, nothing did. Another name, another empty bed.

Across the room, I see a group of older students laughing about something. A couple in the corner feeding each other bites of dessert. Two demons arm wrestling while their friends cheer them on. Life goes on, even when someone’s daughter or sister or friend isn’t coming home.

Jace clears his throat, trying to shift the mood. “A patient came in today with something living inside him. It was a parasite from a fissure site, and you could see it moving under his skin.”

“Stop.” Lux holds up a hand. “If you tell me you got to watch them cut it out, I’m going to scream.”

“Theron was the Veilguard on duty. He opened him up and pulled this thing out.” Jace’s eyes brighten, animated in a way that makes my chest ache. This is what he loves, and it’s exactly why he’s here. This is the kind of thing I used to love too. “Size of my fist, all legs and teeth, still squirming when it came out.”

Ellavee leans in, bread forgotten. “Was the patient awake?”

“They needed him conscious to avoid the nerves. He was screaming, but Theron kept working. Steady hands, no hesitation, it was great.” Jace shakes his head. I recognize that expression. It’s the same one he gets when he talks about why he came here. “That’s what I want, that kind of calm under pressure.”

“That’s disgusting.” Lux stabs her meat aggressively. “And I’m insanely jealous. I got bandages and bedpan duty, and you got a live parasite extraction. The universe is deeply unfair.”

“Did the patient make it?” I ask quietly.

Everyone looks at me.

Jace squeezes my knee. “Yeah, he’s going to be fine. Theron got it all out. But another day and it would have reached his heart.”

I nod, trying to feel relieved, but all I can think about is Nella. The corruption spreading toward her shoulder. The clock ticking down.

“What about you, Mae?” Lux leans forward, oblivious to where my thoughts have gone. “How was your first day in the wards? Any drama? Any near-death experiences?”

“It was fine. Long.”

“That’s it? Fine and long?”