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"Both saw him?"

"Yes."

My stomach tightens. "So he disappeared after midnight."

"Probably."

"Any waking?"

"No."

"Dreams?"

"No."

"Sounds?"

"No."

"Movement?"

"No."

Cassian finally looks at me. "The bed wasn't disturbed."

I stop. "What."

"That's what someone said."

"Who."

"Second-year Tide."

"Reliable?"

Cassian shrugs. "Probably."

Bed not disturbed. Two roommates. No alarm. No ward damage. No noise.

I push my food away. Then remember a handwritten note. Eat all of it, not half. Asshole. I pull the plate back. Cassian watches. Doesn't comment. Smart man.

I eat. All of it.

At eight, the Academy formally enters containment.

Again. Except this time we know the procedures. No chaos. No confusion. Second-years take command positions. Mara runs Sky. Deputies activate. First-Year Response reports to me. Exactly as planned. Exactly as Rhyven trained us. I don't think about that.

No point. He's in Elarion. Caelen too. Dax. Soren. Maelis. All of them. They're needed there. We're needed here. Simple.

At eight twenty, Professor Vayne enters the lower hall. Every conversation stops. He looks terrible. Not physically. Vayne always looks like he hasn't slept since the formation of the Six Kingdoms. Something else. "Vaelith." Of course.

I step forward. "Professor."

"Your response unit."

"Seventeen."

"Capabilities?"