“Thank you,” I say quietly.
“Of course. It’s what friends do.”
I nod once.
The duck’s warm in my hand, my Threads are quiet. But the lie between us? It’s already starting to itch, and I’m not sure how long it’ll stay buried.
Every dayfor the rest of the week, I wake up and grab thefuckingduck. Not because I believe a chunk of wood can save me. Not even because it soothes the storm snarling under my ribs—though it does, in ways that still surprise me.
I grab it because it’s the one thing I havecontrolover right now.
At least last week I knew what I was dealing with, danger I could see. Danger I could measure and try and react to.
This week? Nothing. No direct confrontations. No follow-up. No word from anyone. It’s too quiet. And quiet, in a place like this, doesn’t mean safe. It means I don’t know what’s coming. And not knowing isworse.
So I grab it. Wrap my fingers around the worn, ridiculous shape. Feel the wood settle against my palm like a sigh. And breathe.
The first day, it barely touched the edge. I needed it three, sometimes four times—just to keep from boiling over. But by Thursday, two small grips in the morning seemed to keep the worst at bay.
I still feel ridiculous, a girl and her duck, but ridicule is a small price for control when everything else feelswrong.
Talen’s silence is the worst.
It's the not knowing that’s driving me crazy. He’s holding his truce and I need to know why, why he’s waiting. What the hell he wants, why would he care if anyone found out he was in the tunnels at night? He’s a senior officer who can do what he wants... So why offer me a way out when he could have killed me?
I only saw him once, Friday. Of course theoneday I didn’t use the fucking duck.
The day had already started badly, Threads crawling before I even rolled out of bed. I could have reached for it, should have. But no. I had a point to prove—to who, exactly? Myself? Ezzy? The mirror? I don’t know. But I didn’t use it, wanted to see if I could go without it. Hold my own.
Idiot.
Ezzy had run ahead to our class, eager to grab good seats, leaving me trailing behind. I was just reaching the lecture theatre—Thread something and Treaty Alignment, aka State-Sanctioned Brainwashing for Beginners—counting my steps as if, by just keeping moving, I could outrun the magic clawing its way up my throat when I heard his voice.
Flint-sharp, furious, ripping into Merrin like he didn’t give a fuck he was the High Chancellor. Heart pounding against my ribs, I ducked behind the nearest pillar, held still, breath lockedtight in my throat but I leaned out just enough to watch, to listen.
“Yes, and while I’m grateful you took care of it,” Merrin bit out. The gold seams of his red robes caught the light as he shifted “You should have just?—”
“They were speaking out.Publicly.” Talen snapped back, voice coiled tight with rage. “Anti-treaty rhetoric. What was I supposed to do, wait? Treason is treason. Better their beliefs burn with the dragons than infect the rest of them. They broke the Codex. The process is irrelevant when the outcome is mandatory.”
His voice wasn’t just cold, it was cruel and militant. So emotionless it sent a biting shiver down my spine.
The wall caught my back, rough stone biting through the thin fabric of my shirt as I pressed closer, chasing stillness that wouldn’t come. My magic sparked anyway, fast and erratic. Threads flickering to life beneath my skin, tightening, vibrating like a bowstring stretched too far.
Staying hidden was the plan. Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Wait it out, let them pass, then get back to the dorm and grab the duck.
But then—Ezzy. Bright, loud, impossible to miss, popped her head out of the lecture theatre, calling my name before disappearing back inside.
I flinched, but it was too late.
Both their heads snapped in my direction.
Talen was still raging when his eyes locked on mine. And god, that stare, sharp and primal, cut right through me. My legs went tight and for one reckless, skin-prickling second… I wanted him to come closer. Wanted to see what he’d do if I didn’t back down.
So I stared back, steady, unblinking. Not afraid.
Daring him. Like I wasn’t one second away from losing it, like I’d welcome the excuse.
But he just tilted his head, rage gone in a breath and that crooked smile curved back into place. Lazy. Knowing. Like he could see straight through me.
