Page 5

His expression flattened. "That wasn't funny."

"It was, a little."

Corian ignored both of us and looked at Janus. "A Tier One creature's been cleared to live in Residential housing?"

"He isn't a captured Rift creature," Janus said.

Nykos hadn't taken his eyes off Ashter since he'd appeared. "Then what is he?"

"Mine," I said.

Alex glanced over. "We worked that out."

"Bonded," Janus said, before I had to find a better word for it. "Permanently. Magically and biologically both. Ashter turns to smoke and attaches directly to Jade without harming her. Separate them and both of them suffer for it."

Nykos's eyes narrowed. "Nobody mentioned a bond like that exists anywhere else."

"It doesn't." Janus's tone closed the subject before it opened further. "The Menagerie has studied him for years, certified him fit for active deployment, and cleared him to remain with Jade."

Halver hadn't stopped watching Ashter, the same focused interest I recognized from people trying to understand an animal. Ashter seemed just as curious about him, ember eyes settling on him for a few seconds before his tail gave a slow sweep.

Corian ran his thumb along the edge of my file. "Does Ashter have abilities besides changing form?"

"A few."

Janus moved past the question. "His full assessment is in Jade's records, along with everything the Menagerie thinks you need to know. For today, what matters is that Ashter stays with Jade, including on deployment, and he listens to her unless she decides otherwise."

"He's protective," Janus went on. "If he thinks Jade's in danger, he reacts."

Corian looked at me. "Can he tell the difference between training and a real attack?"

"Yes."

He kept looking at me. Nykos finally looked away from Ashter. "Does he stay physical all the time?"

"No. He stays in whatever form he wants."

I flexed my wrist and Ashter answered at once. His solid form loosened from the tail forward, black smoke rolling across him, the ember lines vanishing beneath the gathering vapor as his hindquarters and body dissolved. His head stayed solid a second longer before the red glow of his eyes disappeared into the dark.

The smoke curled around my legs, climbed my arm, and slid beneath my sleeve until only the familiar warmth at my wrist remained.

Alex watched the last strand vanish. "That is significantly worse than a dog."

"Better," I said.

A small grin came back. "I'm reserving judgment."

The rest of the meeting covered deployment clearance, housing arrangements, and the administrative changes Corian needed to make before I could officially operate with Nephrite. I listened with my expression kept carefully neutral. I'd spent too much of my childhood standing in rooms while adults discussed my future like I wasn't standing right there.

Corian asked practical questions, my training records, command responsibilities, exactly where his authority ended. He never once asked Janus whether I was dangerous, which I noticed. Nykos cut in whenever Janus's answer about my restrictions sounded too vague, and each time, his irritation aimed itself at the rule rather than at me.

Alex asked if Ashter ate normal food, easily the most useful question anyone had asked given Ashter's lifelong campaign to convince people that I never fed him.

"Does he do enclosed spaces for travel?" Halver asked, the first thing he'd said all morning.

"He’s mostly smoke when we travel."

Halver looked at me nodding. "Convenient."