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She interrupts me. "You've copied the same paragraph three times."

I blink. "Have I?" She simply gives me a look. Apparently I have. Somewhere behind us, Cassian suddenly shouts, "I FOUND SOMETHING!" Every head in the Archive lifts.

Professor Neris closes her eyes. "Inside voice."

"Sorry!" His voice is quieter this time. "I found something." He hurries toward us carrying an old ledger. "The same symbol." He points toward a faded drawing near the bottom of the page. The broken circle. "This one's older."

Nyra immediately begins comparing the sketches. "The lower line is different."

Rhyven steps beside her. "It isn't damaged."

"It was drawn differently."

Silence falls. Professor Neris joins us. She studies both symbols for a long moment. Then quietly says, "Copy both." She doesn't explain why. She doesn't need to.

The hours continue slipping away. By late afternoon the Archive feels warmer. Books lie open across nearly every surface. Stacks of copied pages now outnumber the originals. Our investigation no longer fits inside notebooks. It has become something physical. Something real. I rub at the back of my neck. It aches. Everything aches. My eyes burn every time I blink. Still...Just one more journal.

I reach for it. A hand closes over the cover first. I frown. "Rhyven."

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" I frown.

"You've been reading continuously for four hours."

"I took a break."

"You walked to get water."

"That counts."

He stares. "It doesn't."

"I can decide when I'm tired."

"So can your handwriting."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

He turns my notebook toward me. Halfway down the page one sentence trails diagonally across the parchment before disappearing into an ink blot. I stare at it. "I don't remember writing that."

"I know."

I look back up. "So?"

He takes the journal. "So you're done."

"I'm almost finished." Cassian snorts. Traitor.

"You've said that since yesterday." Rhyven answers.

"You sound like Caelen."

Rhyven makes a disgusted face. "I'll pretend you didn't say that."

Despite myself a smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. "I hate both of you."

"No." He turns around. "You're temporarily inconvenienced by both of us."