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"Marginally."

"You'll survive."

We continue along one of the quieter stone paths surrounding the Academy gardens. The evening breeze carries the scent of pine and cold water from somewhere beyond the walls. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the outside world. Rhyven looks at me. Then at my hand. Then back at me. "What?"

"You brought the book."

I look down. There is, in fact, a book tucked beneath my arm. I stop. Rhyven doesn't. I stare at it. "I did not."

"You did."

"I distinctly remember putting this down."

"You picked it back up."

"When?"

"Before we left."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"I wanted to see how long it took you to notice."

I look at his back. "You let me steal from the Silent Archives for entertainment?"

"You didn't steal it."

"That feels like a technicality." He keeps walking. I hurry after him, clutching the book to my chest. "What if there's some kind of alarm?"

"There isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because it would be going off."

"What if it's a silent alarm?" His eyes slide toward me. I consider that. "That was stupid."

"Yes."

"I've been underground too long."

"Yes."

"I think my brain stopped working somewhere around the third genealogy ledger."

"Yes."

I look at him. "Are you going to say anything other than yes?"

"You've been talking for two minutes."

"I think exhaustion has finally broken me."

He looks ahead. "No."

"What?"

"It lowered your filter." His mouth twitches.