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"For an hour."

I stare. "How do you know."

"Nyra." Traitor.

"Where is she?"

"Out."

"Cassian?"

"With her."

"Caelen?"

"Briefing." Convenient. Suspiciously convenient.

I step inside. Close the door. Rhyven puts the book back. Wrong shelf. I immediately point."No."

He looks. "What."

"Wrong shelf."

His expression becomes flat. "It's a book."

"Exactly."

"Still contains the same words."

"Get out." His mouth twitches. There. Good.

I move past him. My pulse is still too fast from running. Only running. Obviously.

"What book." He asks.

"What."

"The one you keep rearranging every time Nyra touches it."

I stare at the shelf. "You've noticed that?"

"Unfortunately."

"It's organized by subject."

"It's organized by your brain."

"Same thing."

"No."

I take the book he misplaced. Put it where it belongs.

Rhyven watches. For a while, neither says anything.

Too much sits between us. Nine o'clock. Elarion.

Deployment. The empty room across the hall tomorrow.