that smelled faintly of lemon cleaner and old dust. Outside, the night was c

ed the extra minutes to come down. He looked at his hands-the same hands that had once trem

hone

ur generosity, Mr. Vale.

message arrived, without

le look twice. Is that on purpose, or

d smile hiding between the lines. The city l

th thumbs steadi

le to see what they

at.

l. Some regrets

iver in the tinted window. The suit was good. The voice

e chapel came back anyway, unin

h that the driver wouldn't hear. He cracked th

-

of her way. The clinic's back room had become their version of a kitchen-an electri

o eat." She slid a plate toward him: toast with butter an

tasted like childhood, the che

rgeon's fingers, the rind coming of

swering. It felt impor

the w

e of toast and paused. "Lonely," he sai

up, not unkind. "B

looked like an exit." He shrug

ted, did

er, which was

a crown. "You be careful with that

t lightly, but they both

e toaster clicked as it cooled. When he was done, he washed his plate

his hands on his trou

was slight, a soft buzz u

ottle, shook one out, and then put it back with a thump. "No

d. "You sound l

re and would prefer not to repeat the experience." Her gaze g

d gone tight as a fist. He braced a palm against the tile and bowed his head. Sometimes

ke a sleeping animal. He practiced the voice with a toothbrush tamped between his teeth to force the words lower. He

xpect sleep. It surprised him anyway,

-

coffee too strong and drank it from a chipped mug with a cartoon

box. "Wear those. They say mo

s shaped like half-moons. Subtle. U

id you g

r's. I said the hospital would take his grandfather's bones,

them, let the jacket fall into place. When he glanced up, Iman's face had gone s

ke a problem

a pr

or. "Text me if you're late. If you're mor

tle trip of his heart giving hi

the only category I insist on winning." She sho

-

d polished concrete. The front desk seemed designed to decline things gracefu

a button. "Mrs. Sloane-C

a stack of files in the other. Today she wore a navy sheath dress that proved she knew how to lo

" she said, pleas

ch as money," he said.

rough the security gate. "Come on. I want to show

He'd pictured photo ops and press releases and donors

e. A girl with purple braids adjusted a sensor with a tongue between her teeth; a boy with a chippe

od," she said low. "Some of them don't hav

et, under all the silk and strategy, that a p

," he said, crouching beside

"Like... a spy. Natalie says I can't

drian suggested, and the boy's eye

ids and first-place ribbons and a sign that said PLEASE DON'T BURN YOURSELF. IF YOU DO

e good with them," she said, as they crossed into a brigh

id. "You build them right, they do what you

nt," she said, not

He'd learned when

with a line of graduates in cheap caps and gowns, the

she said softly. "N

mplicated things in ways

rare to see her search for a word. "Were y

ked. "C

ef, wry curve chased across her mouth. "It makes the men who we

to. "I've been broken," h

o touch. Then a low tone sounded, polite but insistent,

under her breath, and then her face rearranged itself

the glass-walled conference room, and then found them with unerring accuracy. His

He didn't offer reasons. Men

" Adrian's

by name, asked the purple-braided girl what she was building, nodded at the boy with the chipped tooth and told him

wanted to say out loud. Evelyn poured coffee, fingers precise. Lucian declined with a shake of hi

rings you back to our coast, Mr. Vale? I can't find any re

her people to know them." Adrian sm

yes giving away nothing. "And wh

ian said. "I don't give wit

f-annoyed, half-impressed. "The d

aid, and meant it in a

member a song he used to know. He tilted h

n a voice," Adrian said easily. "Y

a smile, close to something else. "A

a click too loud to be an

at her. "Like a lin

he movement small, practi

and leaned back in her chair, pretend

lid, exposing a corner of a photo beneath. A grainy still, courthouse steps, a flash of white. He knew that dress even in bad resolu

gain, covering the image. When he lifted his eyes, Lucian was watching th

" Lucian asked, almost idly. "In the doo

lipped a blade

er voice in a darker hallway: Plant your feet, sweetheart. Rooms o

"Men who've been pushed learn to lean," he s

n's cuff sang a single, bright note. "What would you drink to," Lucian a

s. Two idiots. To bad decisions, they us

like muscle memory. He could

steady. "They're expensive, b

one else would've seen it, but Adrian knew every version of that

his," she said, already standing. "An issue with the scholarship portal."

did

themselves into toy buildings beyond the g

ound that didn't bother the room. "

of his cologne replaced the coffee. "Here's another question." His voice dropped, intimate and

have," Ad

m wh

word widen, a shrug d

areful. "You remind me of someone who isn't here anymore." The sentence landed bet

to make his body remember marble and blo

cian's hands. "That's the thing about remind

es. Evelyn, returning. Lucian straightened. The mask sli

again, "we'll be in touc

eman-polite, and rea

rld into a reflection. In it, a familiar figure stood behind Evelyn, searching t

a

d through Jace's face-confusion, recognition, grief with nowhere to go.

nd," she was saying, bright and s

h, like a borrowed coat. His eyes didn't blink. They searched A

hought he would say her name. The real one. The one tha

ad, voice barely there, a ghos

si

drian's stomach

, not understa

Sorry. Thought you were-" He stopped. He couldn

ard Jace, toward Adrian, the li

ppens all the time," he said lightly, his voice the right register,

ept for the smallest tremor along the jaw. He

r?" Evelyn asked, too quic

, eyes not leaving

pped into the hallway. Jace's shoulder brushed his as he passed-

idn't lo

r the name of the ghost he can't stop seeing. Tomorrow's tour isn't just robo