Kael POV

The hall was nearly empty when I stepped out, the echo of footsteps dying into silence. Aria had gone ahead to rest, leaving me with Daniel and Frank, who kept droning on about patrol rotations. My ears weren’t in it. My mind stayed on the dining table, in the sharp way Elena had asked about hospitals.

The nerve.

I clenched my fists behind my back, nails digging into my palms. Aria had been fragile that morning, pale but holding herself together, and Elena had chosen that moment to prod at her with questions she had no right to ask.

What made it worse was that I already knew....