"Four hours. Maybe five."
"You're running yourself into the ground." His hand fell away from my hair. I mourned the loss of it. "The visits to Stone, the time with Cal, the classes — something has to give."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're exhausted, underweight, and—" He stopped. Took a breath. "You can't take care of them if you don't take care of yourself."
"Because I can't stop." I pulled my hand from Cal's, wrapped my arms around my knees. "Stone needs me. Every day, twice a day."
"Then we find a way to make him respond to others."
"There is no one else."
"Lumi." Neal crouched down, putting himself at my eye level. This close, I could see the strain around his eyes. The want he was still fighting. "I'm not asking you to abandon him. I'm asking you to set limits. Three meals. Six hours of sleep. Breaks between visits."
The truth of it hit me.
He was right. My body had been sending warning signals for days — the headaches, the trembling hands, the way my vision blurred.
"Okay," I said quietly.
Relief flooded through the bond — from all three of them.
"Thank you," Neal said.
"Don't thank me yet." I managed a weak smile. "I'm terrible at self-care."
"I know." Something softened in his expression. "That's why I'm going to enforce it."
They left eventually. James to his advisor meeting. Neal to check on the other ferals. Cal shifted back to wolf form, easier for him than maintaining human shape.
I should have gone to dinner. Followed the rules I'd just agreed to.
Instead, my feet carried me to Stone's cell.
Just a quick visit,I told myself.Then dinner.
He was lying down when I arrived. Watching the barrier. Watching for me.
"Hey," I said softly, settling into the chair.
His ear twitched.
"I'm supposed to be at dinner. Neal made me promise to take care of myself." I pressed my palm against the window. "I'm already breaking the rules."
Stone didn't respond. Just watched.
The bond between us pulsed. Different from the others — darker, more painful. But underneath the ache, something else. A longing that matched what I'd felt in Cal's room.
He wanted me too. Even through the rage, even through the fear.
The bond didn't let either of us forget it.
"I'll come back tomorrow," I said. "Morning and evening."
His tail moved. Once. Twice.
Almost a wag.
