Kael yanked the intent back.
The crushing pressure in the room lifted like a physical weight being removed.
His silver eyes focused slowly.
Rue stood frozen near the door, her nine tails rigid with shock, violet eyes wide as dinner plates. Aria had one hand braced against the wall, her shadow manipulation flickering around her like a distressed animal. Sage stood between them, expression carved from ice, though her tails betrayed her with nervous twitches.
And on the floor beside his bed—a nurse, unconscious due to the pressure of the intent.
"Kael!" Rue launched herself across the room and crashed into him with enough force to rattle the bed frame. Her arms wrapped around his torso, her face buried in his chest. "You stupid—stupid—How could you faint like that?"
He let her cling. His body felt like it had been disassembled and reassembled by someone working from incomplete instructions, but Rue's warmth was... grounding.
