“You said you were going to destroy the compound.” She lifted her gaze to meet Iannis’s. The amount of loathing in those dark brown eyes made me clench my teeth—was she still going to treat Iannis like the enemy, after all this? “By imprisoning those men and women in there, you’re condemning them all to death. Don’t they deserve a hearing, at the very least?”

“Of course they do,” Iannis said, a hint of irritation in his voice. “I do not intend to leave them in the compound—it is simply the safest place to hold them until Lord Logar arrives with transport. They will be given a hearing, as will you,” he added sternly.

Noria jerked her gaze away, staring back into the fire. Annia, who sat on the log next to her, looked stricken, and Rylan, who sat across from Noria, wore an uncomfortable expression on his face. But Iannis had only spoken the truth.

“Please remember, Lord Iannis, my sister is still not yet eighteen,” Annia said quietly, clenching her hands into her lap. She looked up at Iannis, a quiet desperation in her dark eyes. “She might be a genius, but she’s still a child.”

“Don’t, Annia,” Noria protested, looking both angry and guilty all at once. “I know you mean well, but don’t belittle my actions by calling me a child. I’m not one. Aside from what happened here at the bunker, if I had to do this all over again, I’d still join the Resistance.” Her eyes flashed as she met Iannis’s gaze, tilting her stubborn chin at him. “I’m fighting for equal rights for all, and I am willing to pay any price for that.”

“If I could try her as a child, I would,” Iannis said calmly. Sympathy flickered in his gaze for a moment as he looked at Annia and Noria. “But since Noria is enrolled in college, however early, she is legally considered an adult.” A weariness settled across his expression, and he looked down into the fire. All that healing had probably worn him out.

“At least we managed to get these children to safety,” Elnos said awkwardly, getting to his feet. He’d been putting a sleep spell on the children, to ensure they did not wake during the night—we didn’t need them running off after we’d just rescued them. “You found the two mage children in one of the vehicles, Lord Iannis?”

“Yes.” Iannis’s violet eyes flashed as he looked down at their sleeping faces. Like all the other children, and Annia, they were dressed in simple white cotton pants and shirts. Seeing the mage children sleeping side by side with the shifter children, their eyes closed, made me realize just how similar we all were in the end. They all looked… human.