Aton studied me for a beat. The almost-smile faded. "You know you're leaving this place eventually. She's human, Valerius."
The silence that followed had teeth.
Aton opened his mouth to continue.
He never finished.
The bond detonated.
White-hot. A crack splitting through my sternum, racing down my spine, burning through every nerve ending at once. My arm swept the instrument tray off the counter. It hit the far wall. I didn't hear it land.
"What happened?" Aton stepped forward.
I was on my feet. I didn't remember standing.
"Valerius—"
I was already gone.
Full sprint down the corridor. The bond wasn't giving me direction. It was giving me pull. A steel cable hooked behind my ribs, dragging me forward, and the only message it carried was faster.
Guards at the residential checkpoin
