~RYLAND'S POV~
We questioned the ones still in the building that same night.
It was late and nobody was at their best, including me, but waiting until morning felt like handing time to whoever was responsible. Cade ran the questions while I watched. Three people had been in the packhouse during the relevant window, a supply runner, one of the elder's own aides, and a kitchen staff member who'd been working a late shift. All three gave accounts that checked out against what we could verify. No inconsistencies that held up under pressure. No visible tells.
We let them go and told the ones who'd already left to return in the morning.
I went back to Lyra's room after. She still hadn't woken. I sat in the chair beside her bed for a while in the dark and listened to her breathe, and eventually I closed my eyes.
—
Morning came faster than it had any right to.
