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Nyra looks at me. Then Rhyven. Her eyes narrow. "You two are being strange."

Cassian snorts. "They're always strange."

"No." Nyra doesn't smile. "Stranger."

I force my expression neutral. "It's been a long day."

She studies me. I hate how intelligent she is. Finally she lets it go. For now. Rhyven gathers the maps. "We're done."

Nyra blinks. "We just found—"

"We're done today." His tone leaves little room for argument. Cassian wisely starts packing. Nyra doesn't. She looks at him. Then me. Something clicks behind her eyes. Not the truth. Not yet. But suspicion. Wonderful.

We leave the library together. The corridors are busy again. Normal. Students moving toward dinner. Professors speaking. The wards humming faintly beneath the stone. Everything restored. As though nothing happened. Rhyven walks beside me. Too close for coincidence. Nyra and Cassian are several steps ahead. I keep my voice low. "You felt it." I say.

"Yes." The immediate answer almost stops me.

"The... connection." I add.

"Yes."

"It disappeared."

"Yes."

I look at him. He doesn't look back. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"I hate when you say that."

"So do I." That surprises me.

We reach the main staircase. Nyra calls something to Cassian ahead of us. Their voices blur. I lower mine further. "When the lights went out..." Rhyven finally looks at me. "I couldn't feel you." There. Said. Real.

His expression tightens. "I know."

"How?"

"Because I couldn't feel you either."

My pulse jumps. The thing between us suddenly feels less theoretical. Less like a Dominion accident. More like something that exists. Even when neither of us is using magic. I stop walking. Rhyven takes another step before noticing. Turns. "What."

"How long?"

He understands immediately. "I don't know."

"You've been feeling it too." I frown.

"Yes."

"Since Dominion?"

"Probably."

"Probably?" I repeat.

"I didn't know what it was."