Page 424 of The Academy of Blood & Shadow

Nyra's answer is immediate. "No."

The man frowns. "But you just—"

"I said Tiravell was historically next." She looks around the room. "History already failed to repeat exactly. Varethia's quiet period lasted longer this time. Victim count is different. A dragon was taken earlier. Current Elarion has nine disappearances in a single night." Her finger taps the old timeline. "This is not a schedule." Good.

Rhyven nods once. "Treat it as a warning. Not prediction." The Headmaster agrees. Messages begin moving again.

I stand beside the table. Listen. Nine missing. Three settlements. Localized depletion. Manifestation loss. Dragon agitation. Every detail sounds familiar. Too familiar. And beneath all of it— relief. Small. Immediate. Disgusting. Not here. Not Varethia. Not Nyra. Not Caelen. Not— I stop. Gods.

Nine people are missing. Families in Elarion are currently standing beside empty beds. Empty streets. Dropped weapons. Someone is screaming a name that will not answer. And some ugly part of me is relieved because this time the empty space isn't here.

Relief is a terrible thing when it requires someone else to be afraid instead. I hate it. I feel it anyway.

"Eirea." Professor Vayne.

I look up. "What."

"We may receive biological material by courier." Blood. Of course.

"From a victim?"

"Potential witness."

My pulse changes. "What witness?" Rhyven looks toward me now. Finally.

"Someone almost went." What. The room quiets around the next report. Not fully. Enough.

Professor Neris takes a written statement. "A fae guard named Oren Vaelis was standing beside one of the missing women."

Nyra starts writing. "Distance?"

"Physical contact."

I look toward Neris. "He was touching her?"

"Eventually." She reads. "The guard reported sudden complete loss of environmental sound." Same. "A visible pale distortion." Same. "Manifestation loss." Same. "Then the victim began to disappear."

Cassian sits straighter. "Began?" That word matters.