Page 521

Chapter Sixty-two

Room 305 is empty. I know that before I open my eyes. Stupid. Rooms don't sound different through walls. Except apparently they do.

For months, there has always been something.

Caelen moving too loudly. A drawer closing. Boots against stone. Rhyven coming back from somewhere at an unreasonable hour. Low voices. Arguments.

Silence that still somehow contains people. This morning... nothing.

I open my eyes. Grey light fills the room. Nyra is already awake. She's sitting on the edge of her bed.

Fully dressed. Looking at me. That is never good.

"What." She doesn't answer immediately. My body goes alert before my brain catches up. I sit.

"What."

"Eirea."

No. "What happened."

"Someone's missing."

Everything inside me goes cold. I get out of bed.

"Who."

"First-year."

"Who."

"I don't know."

"When."

"They found out this morning."

I grab my clothes. "From where." Nyra hesitates. That gets my attention. I stop. "Nyra."

"His room."

My hands still. "What?"

"He disappeared from his room."

"Which residence?"

"East."

"Alone?"

"No."

Something shifts inside my chest.

"How many roommates."

"Two." I stare at her. Nyra looks pale. Not scared exactly. Close. "They were there." She says. "Both of them."