Harper
The word Noah had barely left my mouth before Vane came off the wall.
"No."
"Vane—"
"Last time you went in, he had his hand around your throat. You came out blue." His voice was flat but the bond was anything but. I could feel it running hot under the surface, the specific frequency of a man replaying a memory he hadn't finished being afraid of. "The answer is no."
Aton stayed quiet. Smart man. He'd learned where the edges were in this particular conversation and had no interest in standing on them.
I let the silence sit for three beats. Then I tried a different door.
"What if you're not outside this time."
His eyes narrowed.
"Inside the room. With me. Three feet away. If anything shifts, you pull me out physically, not through a wall."
"And if the problem is inside his he
