Evelyn pulled a chair toward the table. “Show me where they're being held.”Kael reached for a sheet of paper, but Elena had not released his other hand. He turned toward her. She was studying his face, then the shoulder he had been careful with for days.He kept his voice low. “It's still me. My mother left that crystal for me. It repaired my core.”Elena touched his arm. “And the rest of you?”Kael rolled his shoulder without pain. “That too.”She let go, though she stayed beside him as he drew the prison yard. He marked the storehouse, the long hall, and the watch posts near the road. His power remained close within his body. Nothing in the teaching room shook or moved unless he wanted it to.Evelyn leaned over the drawing. “How many prisoners?”Kael marked the water trough. “Nine in the yard. More inside, but I couldn't count them. Some need help walking. Drev commands the soldiers. He's already seen me.”Evelyn studied the space between the hall and the storehouse. “Can you prote

Kael kept his hand beside the message stone until its light stopped flashing. He saved Varyn's reply, then played it back while Evelyn recorded it on her phone.Below the platform, the last stretcher reached the passage. One of the medical workers raised a hand to signal that the way was clear.Evelyn put her phone away. “Can you tell where he sent that from?”Kael shook his head. “Not from his voice.”He wanted to follow it anyway. Hearing Varyn speak as though those people belonged to him made it difficult to turn away. Then a patient coughed below, and Kael looked toward the open passage.He left the stone and went down the steps.Drev stood between two officers, his hands secured behind him. Kael kept his spell around the commander's arms as they crossed. On the other side, Bureau officers took charge of him and the captured soldiers already brought through.Evelyn stayed beside Drev until the receiving officers checked his restraints. “Keep him separate from the others. His weapo