William squeezes my arm. When he steps back into the elevator to ride up to the residence level, he gives a wink before the doors close. “Call me if you need anything, courtier Matthews.”

Nick’s confused expression bounces between the elevator and me, but I wave it away. “William being William.”

I’m relieved when he decides not to mention any accidental sightings of my flesh. Instead he wraps me in his arms and presses a kiss to my forehead. It’s meant to be comforting, but his lips on my skin make me shiver, send goose bumps down my spine. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

I nod and lean against his chest. Right now I just want to enjoy the feeling of being folded into him, breathe the clean smell of his new shirt. “I could sleep for a full day, but I’m okay.”

He pulls back to examine my face, runs a thumb over my lower lip. “I never should have let you go off with Sel alone. It was my Rule Three, and I broke it.”

“He challenged you in front of everyone,” I counter.

“It won’t happen again. I swear it.” He pulls me in for a soft, lingering kiss to seal the vow.

This boy makes my chest ache.

“Let’s get you home.”

Early morning light streams through cracks between clouds, diffusing the open, quiet foyer with sleepy sun. We only make it a handful of steps before two figures sitting on a bench in one of the foyer’s recessed alcoves stand up to greet us. I drop Nick’s arm before the figures move out of the shadows, and the small hrmn sound of disappointment he emits fills me with warm, fizzy bubbles.

“Bree!” Greer rushes forward with Whitty beside them, worry etched across their face. They wrap me in their arms, then pull back to look me over. “Hellfoxes?”

“Sar said they took Sel’s aether?” Whitty asks. “Right outta his weapons?”

Greer punches him lightly in the arm. “We’re worried about Bree right now, Whitlock.”

Whitty flushes. “Sorry. Ya all right there, Matthews?”

“I’m okay, really.” I rub my healing, itching arms and look around at the dimly lit foyer. All the other Pages have gone back to their dorms, and the Legendborn are in bed in the two floors above us. “Y’all didn’t have to wait up for me.”

“You and Sel were missing for over an hour,” Greer says, not standing close enough to Nick to clock the tension that their words are causing, “and neither of you were answering your phone. No one knew if the trial was over, still going, or what. Then Tor collapsed right out front while we were waiting, everyone started freaking out—”

Whitty notices Nick’s expression and bumps Greer in the shoulder to cut them off.