Ardetia’s gaze flicked to him, then back to me. “And Gideon?”
“He disappeared,” I said. “Mage magic.”
My dad let out a quiet breath. “That sounds like him.”
“He warned me,” I added. “About Celeste. About the Priestess getting desperate.”
A shadow crossed my dad’s face, but he didn’t interrupt.
“Thankfully, you got away,” Caleb said.
“We did,” I replied. “Nova sealed the tunnels behind us. We lost them, but…” I hesitated. “They found us too quickly. Faster than they should have.”
Ardetia’s expression shifted slightly. “Do you think you were followed?”
“I think something led them to us,” I said.
My gaze drifted again, moving through the room without thinking, checking faces, checking corners, checking…
And then I saw her.
The Silver Wolf stood near the far wall. Her presence was larger than life.
Our eyes met briefly, and she gave the smallest nod, but there was something else pressing at the edges of my awareness.
I let my gaze move through the room again, slower this time, looking at the way the students clustered together in quiet conversation, Bella gabbing with a few teachers, and a few shifters recounting their latest expedition.
I turned my attention to Caleb. “So did the Silver Wolf eat Rendel or something?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not that I'm aware of.”
I let my eyes pass over the far wall again, where the Silver Wolf stood, her posture calm, her presence anchoring in a way that made everything else feel just a little less unsteady. She had already taken in the room. I could see it in the way her attention moved.
Our eyes met briefly, and she gave another small nod, the kind that didn’t ask questions but acknowledged that they would need to be answered.
No doubt about it. Rendel wasn’t here.
But he should have been.
With all of his warnings and blustering with Keegan, there was no reason he shouldn't be standing in this hall.
My chest tightened slightly, and pulled my focus away from everything else.
Keegan shifted beside me, his attention catching on the change before I said anything at all.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice low enough that it didn’t carry beyond the space between us.
I didn’t answer right away. There was already so much animosity between them. Keegan and his father. I didn't want to add salt to the wound, but I couldn't help but wonder aloud.
I looked through the crowd again. giving myself the chance to be wrong, to possibly find Rendel standing just out of sight, tucked into a corner, or watching the way he always did.
But he wasn’t there.
I turned to Keegan and let out a deep breath.
“I don’t see him,” I said finally.
Keegan’s brow furrowed slightly. “Who?”
