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The door opens without a knock, and Dad crosses the room in three strides. His eyes rake over the bandages before settling on my face. “There he is. You disobey a direct recall, and my guards dig you out from under a tree, half-conscious. With the signing this close.” He lets out a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Veyra doesn’t sign for a corpse, Asher. Try to remember what you’re for.”

I glare at him. I know exactly what he means, but fuck if I didn’t want to take care of Onyx’s bullies first.

He sighs, running a hand through his thick silver hair. “What exactly were you thinking?”

“There wasn’t time. Then I fell, and it was kind of game over.”

“Yeah?” His eyes search mine. “How did you get to the cave?”

There are cameras all over the grounds. He must have seen me with those candidates, beating them up, and then being saved by Onyx. And now he’s waiting for me to say it.

But I don’t.

I meant what I told Onyx last night. My future isn’t mine… this is.

“I crawled.”

Ryven lets out a quiet sound that might be a cough, but Dad’s attention never leaves me, even when he folds his arms. “Did you now? In a storm that could have killed you. You know, you also gave your future husband quite a fright. He cried when I told him what had happened.”

I snort despite protesting ribs. Of course, that little pussy cried. “What do I care? He’s not my choice.”

“I don’t care that he isn’t your choice, Asher. He is Tempest’s choice, and you are its top candidate.”

My cousins exchange a look, but neither of them dares say a word. Who are the little pussies now?

Dad pinches the bridge of his nose again. For a moment, I think he’s going to say something else, but a knock sounds behind him. One of the guards steps into the doorway. “Sir, I think you would like to see this new footage.”

Dad exhales through his nose. “We’ll continue this later.” He points a finger at me. “You stay in that bed.”

“Of course.”

“I mean it, Asher.” Then he leaves.

Seren waits exactly one heartbeat before pushing away from the window. “Right. Let’s get you dressed.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You clever motherfucker.”

Ryven can’t hide the grin. “Told you. Genius. Runs in the family.”

“Yeah, well, let’s get you to the Regional Hospital in one piece first, preferably without the guards chasing us.” Seren tosses my shirt onto the bed. “Figured you’d ignore medical advice anyway, so we saved you the trouble.”

Swinging my legs over the side, I make it halfway upright before the room tilts. Seren catches my elbow.

“Don’t,” I mutter.

“You’re welcome.”

Pain tears between my ribs the second I try to get my arm through the sleeve. I grit my teeth and let Seren pull the shirt the rest of the way over the bandages, then carefully straighten. “Good.”

Seren shakes his head. “You’re impossible.”

“Frequently. And I don’t give a fuck. I’m going.”

Ryven snorts. “Let’s get our concussion patient before he starts stealing wheelchairs. The Hunt’s suspended until the grounds are cleared anyway. Half the sensors are buried in sand. Nobody’s counting Adjudicators today.”

Seren throws the matte-black holo-SUV into traffic, and the city drops away beneath us as he cuts between streams of morning commuters while Ryven scrolls through his multi-slate.

“Regional Hospital. The candidate transfer cleared twenty minutes ago. He’s in the holding wing on the fourth floor. Medical’s still got him, but boarding opens in less than half an hour.”