ARIA
He wasn’t the strung-out kid anymore. That version of him was gone. He’d been forced to grow up fast, too fast, and now he was standing in the middle of it with no idea what came next.
When we stepped into the infirmary, Liora and Oren were at one of the lab tables, bent over a piece of equipment, talking quietly. Nyssa sat off to the side with a tablet, writing so fast her fingers barely slowed.
I almost smiled when I saw her. Maybe Torin would let her stay. It looked like she’d finally found something that held her focus, something she was good at.
The moment she looked up and saw us, the smile vanished. She slid off the stool and headed straight for the door.
“Nyssa, we need to talk to you,” Kael said. His voice stopped her cold.
Her whole face drained of color. “Let’s take
