Page 47 of Zenith Tower

Delphine squeezed my hand. “Go. Before he remembers how stern he’s supposed to be.”

Marrow stepped aside to let me pass.

I gave Delphine the rest of the bread and let her go.

In the corridor, Marrow waited until the guard had moved several paces ahead.

“The administrator has made the separation permanent during unsupervised hours,” he said. “The four of you will receive one supervised hour together each week. Records access is revoked.”

“And Delphine?”

“Separate visits, while the healer approves them.”

“What did the administrator want?”

“She wanted the four of you kept in full isolation and Moreau returned to Wing C once she was stable.” Marrow started walking. “I objected to both.”

I followed him as far as the junction.

“Delphine’s Mark moved when I held her in Wing C.”

Marrow stopped.

“The healer heard her tell me,” I continued. “Before anyone decides that means she needs another reading, I want Hale.”

“Why Hale?”

“Because he taught suppression at the Hall. He knows the difference between controlling a Mark and forcing it.”

Marrow glanced toward the guard ahead of us. “You will not attempt anything on Moreau without the healer present.”

“I’m not attempting anything on her until I understand what happened.”

He resumed walking. “I’ll send Hale to your room.”

Hale was brought to my room that evening with a guard behind him. Marrow ordered the man to remain in the corridor. The door stayed open.

He looked tired. I had expected that. When I told him Delphine had eaten and argued with me about the bread, his shoulders lowered.

Hale sat in the room’s only chair. “I thought we might find proof she had been here. I didn’t think we would find her.”

“You found the ration route.”

“After she had been in that cell for months.” He rubbed one hand over his face. “I spent too long looking for a record. I should have watched who they were feeding.”

I sat on the edge of the bed across from him. “Kieran needed you that night.”

“I know. Staying with him was the right choice.” Hale lowered his hand. “I still wish I had reached Wing C before the guards did.”

Hale rested his forearms on his knees. “Tell me exactly what Delphine felt.”

I described the pain pulling toward my palm and the way it had stopped when I released her. Hale asked whether any of my lines had brightened, whether I had felt heat, and whether the response returned when I held her hand in the infirmary.

“Nothing happened today,” I said.

Hale exhaled slowly. “Better than provoking it again. But one response gives us almost nothing to work from.”

I rolled back my sleeve. All three lines lay quiet in the water-light.