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"Academy first."

"And then?" I ask.

"Village."

"Forest?"

"Everything."

My stomach tightens. "Do they think Hollowborn?"

Rhyven's eyes meet mine. "No evidence."

Not an answer. I know it. He knows I know it.

The bell rings at six. Not dinner. Different. Three long strikes. The sound rolls through the Academy. Every conversation stops. Doors open. Students step into corridors. Professor Neris appears at the far end. Her face tells me before anyone says it. Jonas Vale is officially missing. The announcement comes fifteen minutes later. All students report to their Wings. Attendance mandatory. Movement restricted until search teams complete the first sweep. No one leaves Academy grounds without authorization. Curfew moved forward. Immediately. The Place remains closed. For the first time since the Council arrived no one complains.

Sky Wing gathers in the eastern hall. Students stand in rows. Rhyven at the front. No sarcasm. No rolled sleeves. Chief uniform. Weapon at his side. He reads names. One after another. "Arden." He starts.

"Here."

A nod. "Belis."

"Here."

A nod. "Carrow."

"Here."

My stomach twists every time someone answers. Why? I don't know. "Vaelith."

I nod. "Here."

Rhyven's eyes lift immediately. Meet mine. Just for a second. Something loosens inside the bond. So faint I almost miss it. Relief. My chest tightens. He looks back at the roster. Continues. At the end one name receives silence. "Riggs." Nothing. Rhyven waits. The room feels enormous. "Jonas Riggs." Silence. No jokes now. No assumptions about someone else's bed. No laughter. Nothing. Rhyven marks the page. The sound of the quill scratching parchment is somehow unbearable.

Search teams leave at seven. Dragons take the air. Students watch through windows despite being told not to. I stand with Nyra in the upper corridor. Three dragons cross above the Academy. Then another. Then another. Their silhouettes disappear toward the village. The wards shimmer beyond them. Whole. Unbroken. Safe.

"Maybe they'll find him." Nyra whispers.

"Yes." Neither of us believes the other.

At eight...Nothing. Nine. Nothing. Ten. Nothing.

By curfew every building in the Academy has been searched. Every classroom. Every training hall. Every dormitory. Every storage room. Every tower accessible to students. The village search continues. Jonas is nowhere.

I return to my room. My roommates barely speak. Nobody does. I change. Wash my face. Sit on the edge of my bed. And stare at the wall. Yesterday Jonas was alive. Laughing. Carrying drinks. Standing in the doorway of The Place. He waved at me. I waved back. Then I turned around. And walked home.

Warmth moves beneath my ribs. Rhyven. Distant. Restless. Moving. I close my eyes. He's still searching. I don't know how I know. I simply do. I lie down. Don't sleep. An hour passes. Maybe two. The warmth keeps moving. Then stops. My eyes open. Something changes. Not fear. Not alarm. Just...Stillness.

A minute later— Footsteps outside. I sit up. A knock. Three quiet strikes. I open the door. Rhyven stands there. Still in uniform. Hair disordered. Exhaustion beneath his eyes. I know before he speaks. "Nothing." My stomach sinks. "You searched everything?" I ask quietly.

"Everything accessible."

"And the village?"

"Still searching."

"Forest?"