CADEN
She was not just drunk.
She was gone. Completely. The specific groan of someone whose body had been chemically ambushed rather than gradually worn down by choice.
He found her on the east steps with Rhen crouched beside her, looking rattled in a way he never looked rattled. Her back was against the stone wall, knees pulled up, head tipped back. Eyes open but not landing on anything properly.
"Two drinks," Rhen said before Caden could ask. "That's all she had. I counted."
"Bren's drinks."
Rhen's mouth went tight. "The first one. Before Zion intervened. She said she didn't touch it." He looked at the ground. "She must have taken one sip."
Caden dropped to his knees at her feet.
She looked at him, and her face did something it never did when she was sober. Something open and unm
