Page 138 of Zenith Tower

“An alteration or a repair?”

“That distinction has not been established.”

Kieran’s face hardened. A moment later, Astra’s exhaustion tightened at the far end of the line.

“Control it,” I said.

Kieran’s gaze snapped to mine.

I put two fingers over the line and slowed my breathing. My own anger remained open to Astra, but I stopped feeding it with every breath.

Kieran’s shoulders lowered. He covered the line at his wrist and steadied his breathing to mine.

Our breathing aligned. Green-gold steadied beneath Kieran’s hand as copper did beneath mine.

At the far end of the bond, Astra’s attention turned toward me. The pain in my hand eased enough for the fingers to move. Across the table, color returned slowly beneath Kieran’s skin.

The reader looked between us. “What did you do?”

“Breathed,” Kieran said.

“Remove your hands from the Marks.”

We obeyed. There was no value in teaching him which part had mattered.

He repeated the measurements, beginning at our wrists and working toward the places the Marks disappeared beneath clothing. The values had fallen. He wrote faster.

“Do it again,” he said.

“Do what?” Kieran asked.

“The synchronized regulation.”

“You told us to move our hands.”

The reader’s voice thinned. “Place them over the bond lines.”

I looked at Kieran.

Kieran kept his hands on his knees. The knuckles whitened when the reader tapped the probe against the table.

If we waited for privacy, Walkin might separate us beforeAstra learned to recognize anything deliberate through the bonds. The reader would see a synchronized response. He did not have to understand what it meant.

I put my hand over the line.

Kieran followed.

This time I did not offer Astra calm. I tightened the bond sharply and held it there. The meaning I put into the pressure was simple: wait.

Kieran covered his line. Both brightened and held at the same steady edge, the two changes too closely matched to resemble panic.

Astra’s attention turned toward us again.

She did not answer in words. A brief warmth crossed the line, and Kieran’s breath caught at the same instant. She had noticed both signals.

The reader watched the probes. “Again.”

I released the line.