_Nathan’s POV_
The building they chose for the meeting was too clean.
It sat on the edge of campus, one of those administrative places with glass walls, quiet corridors, and staff who spoke in careful voices. Official enough to look legitimate. Private enough to make the whole thing feel like a trap with paperwork attached. I stood outside it with my phone in my hand and the formal notice still open on the screen, even though I already knew every line by heart.
Miles was with me.
He had not asked if he could come. He had simply been there when I left the dorm, leaning against the low wall near the entrance like the decision had already been made.
“You’re not going in alone without someone outside,” he had said.
“You’re not on the list.”
“I don’t need to be on the list to wait.”
So
