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"No." He sounds certain. "

"Any discomfort beyond the wound?"

"No."

"Memory gaps?"

"None."

"Loss of time?" He shakes his head. "Changes in manifestation?"

Aldric glances toward us once. "I don't have a confirmed manifestation."

Professor Neris looks toward Cassian. "What did you perceive?"

"Concern. Confusion. Fear after Eirea explained the result." He answers.

"Anything concealed?" Cassian's gaze flicks apologetically toward Aldric. "Embarrassment." Aldric looks away.

Professor Neris continues. "Anything absent?"

Cassian becomes still. "No."

She studies all four of us. Then walks to the classroom door. Locks it. The click echoes through the chamber. She extinguishes the windows with a movement of her hand. Morning light disappears beneath black warding glass. The room feels smaller without it.

Professor Neris returns to the teaching floor. "Have you told anyone else?"

"Nyra and Rowan were present during the Trial disturbance." I say.

"Do they know about Aldric?"

"No." Rhyven answers before I do.

"Anyone at the Place?"

"No." Rhyven answers again.

Professor Neris looks at him. "You are certain?" Rhyven's expression doesn't change. "Yes."

She nods once. "Good."

The word is not reassuring. She crosses toward the narrow door behind the inheritance panels. "Come with me."

Professor Neris' office is not where I expected it to be. The narrow door opens onto a descending staircase hidden inside the wall. We follow her beneath the classroom. The air becomes cooler with every step. No decorations line the passage. No windows. Only black stone and thin threads of silver warding embedded between the blocks. Aldric walks near Cassian. Rhyven remains behind me. The staircase ends at a small circular landing with one iron door. Professor Neris places her palm against the center. The wards brighten. One layer. Then another. Then six. The door opens.

Her office is severe. A broad wooden desk. Three chairs, though she gestures for us to bring two more from the wall. Tall cabinets locked with physical keys as well as magic. A single shelf of books, each chained to the stone behind it. No personal portraits. No family crest. No sign that anyone lives beyond her work. Professor Neris enters last and closes the door. The wards seal around us. Only after the final line of silver brightens does Professor Neris move behind her desk. "Sit." We do.

Aldric takes the chair nearest the door. Cassian beside him. Rhyven remains standing until Professor Neris looks pointedly toward the final seat. He sits beside me. Professor Neris places both hands on the desk. For several moments, she says nothing. The quiet feels deliberate. A test, perhaps. Or time for her to decide exactly how much truth we have earned. "Blood Echo has been recorded in fourteen vampire lineages," she says finally. "Only three cases were strong enough to perceive emotional residue older than a decade."

I look toward her. "Mine reached nearly two centuries."

"Yes." She answers.

"You knew that was unusual."

"I told you it was."

"You did not tell me how unusual."