Day 7 — Morning

Morning had reached the Master Suite in a gray-blue strip around the curtains. Martin stood, partially slumped beside her pillow. Beyond him, in a chair by the window, Van sat upright and red-eyed in exhausted vigilance.

Lizzy pushed herself upright. Van’s dark T-shirt bunched around her waist beneath the blanket, and one rolled cuff of his sleep pants had come undone around her ankle.

“Van?”

He turned toward her immediately.

That cleared the last of her sleep. “What happened?” she asked, looking past him.

“Nothing,” was his flat reply.

The bedroom door stood open. A dining chair waited in the hall, canted to block as much of the passage as possible. Farther away, the living-room couch had been turned sideways across the Suite entrance.

She threw back the blanket. “Van.”

“Nothing happened,” he repeated. His voice was rough. “I made sure.”

Her feet touched the carpet. “How long have you been sitting there?”

He rubbed one hand over his face. “A while.”

“Van.”

She came around the bed. Dark shadows sat beneath his eyes. Yesterday’s training had already left him sore; a night folded into the chair had added a stiffness to his shoulders that made him look older.

“You didn’t sleep at all.”

“I was watching.” He said it simply. “If something came in, I wanted to see it before it got to you.”

The couch blocked the door. The chair in the hall was close enough to grab. Van had put himself between the entrance and the bed.

Her attention went from him to the open bedroom door and then to the furniture scattered to block the entrance. She realized what he was watching for and her face fell. Lizzy turned back to him.

She stepped forward and wrapped both arms around him.

Van stiffened in surprise before his hands settled against her back and pulled her close.

Lizzy pressed her cheek against his shoulder. His shirt smelled faintly of soap now instead of carnival food, but beneath it she could feel how tired he was. His arms held her without much strength behind them.

“You’re an idiot,” she whispered.

“Probably.”

She stayed there a little longer, then drew back and planted both hands on his shoulders.

“Bathroom,” Lizzy said. “Wash your face, brush your teeth, change clothes. Then you are coming downstairs and eating something before Fiona gets you anywhere near Riverstone Trail.”

Van looked toward the bathroom, then back at her. “Yes, Coach.” Van smiled faintly and disappeared into the bathroom.

Heat touched her face. Lizzy looked at Martin, then covered her face with both hands for one second. She sat on the edge of the bed and waited until the sound of running water began.

The oversized clothes she had borrowed from Van still covered her from neck to ankle. Beneath them, the pale-lavender silk she had borrowed had become impossible to forget now that she was moving around. The narrow back of the thong shifted when she sat. The bra fit better than anything she owned and felt far less innocent than the practical cotton underwear she normally wore.

She was trying to ignore the feeling of silk against her sensitive skin, but every time she dragged her thoughts away from the cooling brush of silk, she instead remembered the heat of Van’s arm holding her.

Van emerged several minutes later with damp hair around his temples and a face that looked marginally more awake.

“Your turn.”

Lizzy gathered a fresh towel and the clothes the Suite had laid out for morning. Another featureless cotton tank top and pair of pants. The Suite did not supply her with replacement underwear, which she considered far too direct for an inanimate Suite.

Lizzy carried her clothes into the bathroom and locked the door. She leaned against it for one breath, then crossed to the sink. Face first, teeth, hair.

Ordinary tasks gave her hands somewhere to go.

When she finished, she pulled Van’s T-shirt over her head and stepped out of the oversized sleep pants.

The mirror caught her before she could look away. Lizzy stopped, her eyes caught by her own reflection.

The lingerie had felt different last night. In the mirror, Lizzy kept finding reasons to adjust her hair instead of looking below her own shoulders.

The pale-lavender demi-cup bra lifted rather than flattened her small breasts. The silk followed the shape she already had instead of trying to make her look larger. The matching thong sat high at her hips, the straps forming a tight V pointing directly toward something she couldn’t afford to think about while Van’s scent still lingered.

Her body hadn’t changed. She had the same narrow shoulders. Same slight waist. Same legs. The same breasts she had spent years mentally ranking below those of women who seemed designed for desire.

But the person in the mirror was attractive. Lizzy moved closer and turned slightly, then immediately felt foolish and faced forward again.

Van had seen the set only as a folded problem in her hands before she went into the bathroom last night. She couldn’t help but ask the natural question.

Would he like seeing her in it?

Silver-white light traced the bra strap beneath her fingers. Lizzy froze as the edge of one cup became translucent.

---------------------------------------

Naomi struck her smallest toe against the bed frame hard enough to abandon dignity for several seconds.

She caught the blanket before she fell.

“God—”

Katherine looked up from her pillow.

Naomi made the rest of the journey to her robe in three uneven steps and pulled it around herself.

Katherine’s attention dropped to Naomi’s foot. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No,” she hissed. “Not really.”

Naomi inspected her toe.

Katherine sat up in the bed. “You don’t have to sprint for the robe every time I wake first.”

Naomi’s fingers stopped rubbing at her foot.

Katherine nodded toward the garment she was clutching closed.

“I have been sharing a room with you for days. I am not going to make a production out of seeing more skin.”

Naomi rubbed the sore joint without looking up.

“I know you don’t care about nudity. And I know there is nothing inherently shameful about being naked in front of another woman. That doesn’t make it easier to break a lifetime of habit.”

Katherine leaned back.

Naomi tugged the tails of the robe over her knees. “I spent most of my life covering before I had to think. Gloves, sleeves, distance. Every layer was another chance not to make a mistake. Now Power Valve works better when I stop doing the thing that kept everyone safe for years.”

She gave a small, frustrated laugh.

“My body has apparently decided exposure is responsible behavior.”

Katherine turned her pen between her fingers. “You may be testing it under the worst possible conditions.”

Naomi looked up.

“Every attempt begins with embarrassment. You wake uncovered. Someone walks in while you are changing. You realize a shirt exposes more than you expected. Then you measure success by whether you can endure being seen.”

“What alternative do you suggest?”

“A social setting where being seen is not proof that anything went wrong.”

Naomi waited.

Katherine continued. “Massage. A spa. A bathhouse. An onsen. Places where undressing has an understood purpose and everyone present accepted the same social rules before entering.”

Naomi’s brows rose. “Your easier step is public nudity.”

“When reduced to its least flattering summary, yes.”

“That is insane.”

Naomi pulled the robe closer around her. The contradiction bothered her precisely because she understood it. Accidental exposure always arrived with failure attached. A place where no one had failed simply by being undressed would remove one part of the fear.

It would leave several others. “No. That’s too much,” she said.

“Then don’t do it.”

Katherine climbed out of the bed with languid grace.

Naomi watched her for a second. “You’re giving up very easily.”

“Because it was an idea.” She stretched her arms and back. “You said it was too much, so we try something smaller.”

Naomi pushed herself to her feet. She gave the bed frame a wider berth on the way to the bathroom.

Behind her, Katherine was slipping out of her own clothes carelessly.

-----------------------------------------

Claire checked the dining-room door for the sixth time just before Mara arrived.

Evelyn put down her coffee with a distinct thump.

Claire immediately reached for her juice, looking at the older woman sheepishly.

“I didn’t say anything,” Evelyn said.

“I know.”

Cassie looked between them. “This is already more entertaining than usual.”

Fiona sat beside her with one elbow on the table and her cheek against her fist. She had tied her red hair back with less care than usual, and there were faint shadows under her eyes.

Cassie, by contrast, looked offensively well rested. “You look tired, Fiona,” Cassie said around a bite of toast.

Fiona stared at her. “No wonder. You snored, kicked me twice, and put your hand on my face.”

Cassie paused with the toast halfway to her mouth. “I refuse to be held responsible for alleged crimes committed while unconscious.”

Fiona took a drink of coffee. “You also drooled on the pillow.”

Mara entered before Cassie could respond.

Claire straightened. Her hair lifted around her shoulders, and her eyes went briefly toward the corridor behind Mara.

Mara caught the glance. “Sorry. Just me.”

Claire winced and pulled a chair out for her with a small telekinetic tug. “That was rude of me. I’m sorry. Good morning.”

Mara smiled as she sat. “Good morning.”

Evelyn lifted her cup. “You may explode before Lizzy arrives.”

Claire’s hair curled around her own shoulder in betrayal, and Mara hid a smile behind the coffee pot.

The doors opened again, revealing Naomi and Katherine. She wore a dark skirt and a fitted racerback crop top. Her shoulders and arms were bare, along with a broad section of her midriff. The outfit would have passed without comment anywhere outside the Hotel.

Here, Naomi reached the table before realizing no one had said anything.

Claire smiled at her. “That looks really good on you, Naomi.”

Naomi’s hand brushed the bare skin below one shoulder. “Thank you.” She hesitated. “I’m still getting used to it. I feel so visible.”

Naomi sat beside Katherine and allowed the subject to die.

The doors opened a third time. Lizzy came through carrying Martin. She looked awake enough for both of them.

Van followed, moving largely through determination.

Claire’s face brightened, but Lizzy saw it and gave her a warning look before she reached the table.

“Good morning,” Lizzy mumbled to the room.

“Morning,” Claire said with bright, restrained innocence.

Van sat heavily and reached for the coffee. Mara passed him the eggs. Lizzy nudged the toast and fruit within reach, then forced herself to stop arranging things for him.

Fiona’s assessment surfaced while she watched him eat. His reactions were slightly slow, and his shoulders and lower back were stiff from holding one position too long. He was tired enough to get sloppy if he pushed, but he wasn’t injured. Winner’s Eye supplied the same unwanted answer it had given her before: even exhausted, he was stronger than she was.

Fiona cut into her breakfast harder than necessary.

Cassie opened her mouth, saw Fiona’s face, and chose her juice instead.

Claire waited until Lizzy had taken at least one sip.

“So, Lizzy,” she started with an absolute lack of subtlety.

Evelyn closed her eyes briefly and let out an exhausted breath.

Lizzy looked at Claire, who was smiling. Lizzy looked away and concentrated on Martin’s wings.

The dining-room doors opened.

“Good morning.” Verena entered with her hair returned to its severe morning arrangement. Her skirt suit was back and looked even more expensive somehow.

Cassie leaned back. “And there goes breakfast.”

Verena reached the head of the table. “Your confidence in my influence remains flattering.”

Pale-gold light unfolded above the center of the table.

CURRENT VICTORY POINT TOTALS

EVELYN CROSS — 8 VP

CLAIRE MERCER — 9 VP

ELIZA QUINN — 12 VP

NAOMI HALE — 12 VP

KATHERINE WREN — 2 VP

MARA ELLISON — 9 VP

FIONA KAVANAGH — 0 VP

CASSIE LIN — 1 VP

Lizzy stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth.

Verena inclined her head toward her. “Congratulations, Ms. Quinn. Yesterday moved you into a tie for first place.”

Color spread across Lizzy’s face.

Fiona dropped her fork onto her plate. “Don’t congratulate her for that. It’s like handing peanuts to the dancing monkey.”

Lizzy’s smile faltered. “I’m not a monkey,” she said in a quiet voice.

Verena regarded Fiona calmly. “Ms. Quinn’s feelings about how she achieved the points are her own. The ranking is mine to administer. Higher Victory Point totals unlock privileges and contribute to successful exit conditions; low performance can still leave a contestant disadvantaged.”

Fiona picked up her fork again and stared at the eggs without taking a bite.

Verena returned to the display. “Current Bonus Point totals are as follows.”

CURRENT BONUS POINT TOTALS

MARA ELLISON — 4,600 BP

EVELYN CROSS — 4,500 BP

CLAIRE MERCER — 3,200 BP

ELIZA QUINN — 2,025 BP

FIONA KAVANAGH — 2,000 BP

NAOMI HALE — 1,900 BP

CASSIE LIN — 1,800 BP

KATHERINE WREN — 100 BP

Katherine regarded the last line. “A concise summary of my spending habits.”

Verena smiled at the joke and continued. “Ms. Quinn crossed two previously revealed Victory Point thresholds yesterday.”

The board changed.

5 VP MILESTONE

PERSONAL CLOTHING ACCESS

“Your personal wardrobe access is now active. You are no longer limited to standard facility issue for ordinary clothing.”

Lizzy glanced down at the tank top the Suite had supplied.

“Okay,” was all she could say.

The next line brightened.

10 VP MILESTONE

HOTEL CELL PHONE

A slim dark phone appeared beside her plate, causing Lizzy to jump.

Naomi laughed before she could stop herself.

Lizzy picked up the device. Pale silver edged the dark glass, matching Naomi’s phone. The screen awakened beneath her thumb.

CAMERA

TEXT

TALK

FACILITY MAP

Several additional icons remained locked.

Naomi already had her own phone in hand before Lizzy’s device buzzed.

NAOMI: You look surprised.

Lizzy stared across the table. Naomi managed a composed expression for almost two seconds.

Lizzy typed.

LIZZY: You’re so fast at this.

Naomi’s phone buzzed.

NAOMI: Yes.

Lizzy bit back a laugh.

Claire leaned sideways. “You can text each other now.”

Naomi nodded. “Apparently.”

Claire looked at her own nine VP on the fading board, then returned to breakfast.

Verena waited until Lizzy set the phone beside Martin.

“Tonight’s bond assignment is Katherine Wren.”

Katherine’s hand stopped beside her coffee.

Van looked across the table.

Katherine rested her fingers around the cup before answering. “It has been a long time since I went on a proper date.”

She looked at Van, then lowered her eyes to the coffee for a second. “I wonder if I remember how.”

Van rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know how either.”

Katherine’s smile was less sardonic than usual. “Then perhaps we can be inexperienced together.”

Cassie’s eyebrows rose at the exchange.

Verena continued before anyone could comment.

“Physical training begins in one hour. Ms. Kavanagh and Master Van are excused from Alpha’s session. Ms. Kavanagh’s requested running instruction will satisfy today’s physical-training requirement for both of you. The remaining contestants will report to Alpha.”

Fiona’s posture changed by a fraction. Van just nodded.

Katherine raised one hand. “Headmistress, can the facility provide an onsen?”

Naomi’s eyes closed. Cassie looked from her to Katherine.

Verena answered without hesitation. “Yes. Speak to Pixie if you have any special requests.”

Naomi opened her eyes. “We only discussed whether the idea might help. I am not agreeing to it just because the house elves can make one.”

Katherine turned toward her. “I know. I only wanted to know whether the option was even worth discussing.”

“It is available,” Verena said. “You would be hard-pressed to suggest an option we cannot provide.”

Naomi nodded once. “Then that is enough information for now.”

Verena let the matter end there. “One additional item, Master Van.”

A second phone appeared beside his plate.

Van looked down at it in confusion. “Mine?”

“Your Master interface. Standard communication functions are included, along with functions specific to your role.”

The casing was darker than the contestants’ phones, with a narrow gold line running around the edge.

Van unlocked it.

CAMERA

TEXT

TALK

FACILITY MAP

LOCATE

Several more functions remained behind lock symbols.

His thumb stopped above LOCATE. “What does this do?”

“It will display the current location of any contestant within the facility.”

Van looked at the women around the table. “So I can find any of them whether they asked me to or not.”

“The function is available to you,” Verena said.

He put the phone down. “I don’t like that very much.”

Verena regarded him without apology. “The function remains available, Master Van. Perhaps, in time, you will come to appreciate the function more than you predicted.”

Verena folded her hands. “The device is also bound to you. If lost, stolen, or otherwise separated from your possession, it will reappear on your person or on the nearest suitable surface. Additional Master functions will unlock as our game progresses.”

Van left it beside his plate with a scowl.

Katherine was watching Van closely when Verena addressed her.

“One final reminder, Ms. Wren. Your additional Dossier search period cannot be used during tonight’s bond assignment. The assignment requires you to remain with Master Van.”

Katherine looked up. “Understood.”

Verena inclined her head to the table. “Training begins in fifty-six minutes.”

She left and the doors closed themselves behind her.

Claire stayed in her chair until Lizzy had taken three more bites.

Then she stood. Her shoulders were rigid with purpose.

“No,” Lizzy said before Claire reached her.

Claire gathered several floating red strands over one shoulder. “We have a very important discussion pending, Ms. Quinn.” She gave her best impression of Verena.

Evelyn looked up from her coffee. “So much for restraint.”

Lizzy glanced toward Mara.

Mara smiled. “You should tell her nothing. It would be a fitting punishment.”

Lizzy eyed Claire while she picked up Martin. “Five minutes.”

Claire wiped the excited grin from her face before enthusiasm could ruin it.

Lizzy followed Claire from the room.

-------------------------------------------

Fiona left through the opposite dining-room exit before Claire and Lizzy reached the lounge corridor.

“Hey,” Cassie called after her. “Try not to kill him.”

Fiona stared at her.

“The running,” Cassie added. “I mean the running.”

“I know what you mean.” Fiona left without dignifying her suggestion.

Cassie watched the door close, then returned to Naomi and Katherine.

Cassie dropped back into the chair across from Naomi. “For the record, swimming is a much saner first step than communal nakedness.”

Naomi’s mouth curved. “That’s a pretty swift pivot for the table.”

“Because people are supposed to show skin at a pool. You still get the social permission Katherine is talking about, but you also get a swimsuit, an exit, and several feet of water to put between yourself and anyone you are tired of looking at. That sounds like practice instead of a dare.”

Katherine glanced distractedly toward the door Lizzy had vanished through. “A reasonable distinction.”

Cassie’s face warmed when Katherine turned back to them. Somehow she looked…excited? More at ease? It was hard to read.

“I found the sauna yesterday,” Cassie said. “It does wonders for muscle stiffness.”

Naomi glanced at her. “Swimming first. I’m definitely not ready to try something that bold.”

Cassie nodded. “Then it’s settled.”

Katherine’s distracted look returned. Cassie tried to track her gaze to see where her mind had gone instead of following the conversation, but Katherine’s focus returned to the group before she could.

----------------------------------------

Claire closed the lounge door behind them, turning to face Lizzy directly. Lizzy sat with Martin across her lap and pointed at her.

“No rapid-fire questions.”

Claire sat at the other end of the couch and made a visible effort to contain herself. “I just want to hear what the date was like from you, without a notification appearing over somebody’s head in the middle of the story.”

Lizzy eyed her. “I’m surprised you weren’t waiting outside the suite this morning.”

“I am showing remarkable growth here.”

That got a reluctant smile. “We went to some pizza place called Gino’s,” Lizzy said. “I told him I like Hawaiian pizza. He declared us lifelong enemies, ordered half Hawaiian anyway, and then informed me that tomatoes know their place. His half had basically every meat Gino owned.”

Claire laughed. “That sounds more like him.”

“It was stupid and normal,” Lizzy admitted. “I think that was why I liked it.”

The easy beginning loosened something in her chest. She told Claire about the carnival next: the ring toss, the bumper cars, Van’s catastrophic relationship with games requiring finesse, and Martin’s liberation from the strength tester. Claire took the dragon long enough to confirm that he did, in fact, look like senior management in aerospace before returning him respectfully.

Claire’s eyes dropped to Lizzy’s hands. “Tell me about the handholding.”

Lizzy inhaled. “The notification surprised me. My hand phased, and my panties went through the boardwalk.”

Claire’s mouth opened. “They did not!”

“Don’t you dare.” Lizzy slapped at her extended wrist.

Claire produced a look of comical innocence. “I am trying very hard to be a good friend.”

“You look like it injured you,” Lizzy grumbled.

That broke her. Claire folded over laughing, and Lizzy hit her once with Martin before reclaiming the dragon.

When Claire finally recovered, Lizzy’s embarrassment had softened enough to continue. “Van didn’t know what happened. He knew I lost control, but he never made me explain it. He just offered his hand again and waited for me to decide whether I wanted to take it.”

Claire’s laughter faded.

“That was why I stayed,” Lizzy said. “I was humiliated, and he just worked right past it. He just held his hand out again and smiled that stupid grin of his.”

She looked down at Martin, smiling despite herself. “Later I told him I liked him. I told him I wanted at least one thing between us to happen because I chose it, not because Verena or the System told me to. Then I grabbed his face and kissed him.”

Claire leaned closer. “And what was it actually like?”

“Awkward. Our noses hit. He froze for a second because I surprised him, and then he kissed me back.” The memory slowed her words. “He told me later it was his first kiss too. And that he liked it.”

Claire’s smile gentled. “That is disgustingly sweet.”

Lizzy hugged Martin. “I know.”

Claire waited another few seconds before asking, “You’re hiding something. I can tell. What else happened?”

“Oh.” Lizzy’s entire face burned. “My bra phased into his hands.”

Claire blinked in confusion.

“Then I tried to put it back on, and it fell through the pier.”

Claire made a small choking sound.

“And then a gust took my blouse into the lake.”

With a supreme effort of will and a deep breath, Claire remained composed. “So you were topless on the pier with Van?”

“Yes.” Lizzy became intensely interested in Martin’s stitching. “But only for a second, he had his back to me. When he realized something was wrong, I was crouched facing away. He put his shirt over me.”

Claire nodded with grave authority. “So, what you’re saying is *he* was topless on the pier.”

Heat and fear burned up Lizzy’s neck to her ears. “We took turns,” she said in a small voice.

Claire’s laughter was real and bright. It loosened something in Lizzy’s heart, and she finally surrendered to the absurdity of it, her laughter joining Claire’s.

“You two make quite a pair.” Claire held up two fingers. “First Cassie blasted his shirt apart during her transformation ceremony, and then he undressed at a carnival.”

“But it has its benefits.” Claire gave Lizzy a pointed look. “Being locked up with a hunk who can’t keep his shirt on, for one.”

For one second neither of them spoke. Then they joined in laughter again. Lizzy struck Claire with Martin as she struggled for breath.

The Hotel had spent almost a week turning every private impulse into data, every mistake into an event, every relationship into a visible score. For several minutes the two of them ignored all of it and discussed Van’s shoulders.

Claire argued that they were unfair.

Lizzy said his arms were worse.

Claire admitted that Lizzy’s experience eclipsed her own.

Lizzy denied feeling his muscles too much during their hug while smiling too much to make the denial useful.

Eventually the laughter eased.

Claire tucked one leg beneath herself. “So. The Suite.”

Lizzy’s fingers tightened around Martin. “It changed into an apartment. Two desks, computers, a kitchen—the whole thing looked too much like somewhere people actually lived.”

She told Claire about Van admitting he had never owned a smartphone and the strange confidence with which she had promised to build him a computer if they ever lived together. By the time she reached that sentence again, she could hear why it had landed differently than she intended.

“I meant the computer,” Lizzy said. “Mostly. He asked whether I actually wanted to live with him, and I realized I had accidentally made it sound like a future instead of a hardware project.”

“The apartment got to him. A real home. People in it. Something he could lose.” Lizzy rubbed her thumb over Martin’s felt horn. “He panicked.”

Claire’s hands settled in her lap.

“I got him breathing again. Just coach stuff—count, give him one thing to do, breathe first and then move. He told me some things while it was happening. More than I think he meant to.”

Claire waited.

“Afterward we took turns showering, changed, and went to bed. We slept. Same bed, ridiculous amount of space.” Her face warmed. “I wanted to ask what he thought the kiss meant, but he’d just had a panic attack. I wasn’t going to make him reassure me.”

Claire’s smile returned, softer this time. “You wanted him to kiss you again.”

Lizzy stood with Martin. “Five minutes are over.”

Claire laughed and rose with her. At the door, the teasing left her face. “Is he actually okay this morning?”

Lizzy rested one hand on the handle. “I don’t know. I woke up and he was sitting beside the bed in a chair. He had moved the couch across the Suite entrance and stayed awake watching the hall because he wanted to see anything coming before it reached me.”

Claire’s expression changed.

“I didn’t know what to say,” Lizzy continued. “So I hugged him, made him wash his face, and got him downstairs for breakfast. It was the only useful thing I could think of.”

Claire opened the door, and they walked back toward the dining hall together.

-----------------------------------

Van stood in the lobby leading to the Riverside Trail. His new phone sat on the table nearby.

Van picked it up. The LOCATE app danced energetically at the bottom of the dark screen.

He locked the screen and slid the phone into his pocket.

A knock sounded at the entrance. Evelyn stood outside, leaning in the arched doorway.

Her eyes moved over him once. “You didn’t sleep.”

“Apparently washing my face fooled nobody.”

She smiled briefly. “No. A professional makeup team might be needed.”

“Fiona is coming,” he said. “I’m sorry if I seem short.”

“She can wait two minutes. Start with whatever kept you awake.”

Van looked toward the stairs. “I had another panic attack last night.”

Evelyn didn’t interrupt him.

“The Suite turned into an apartment. Lizzy made a joke about us living together someday—mostly about computers—and I asked whether she actually meant it. Then I started thinking about a real home. People in it. A place something could find.”

He rubbed his thumb against the edge of the phone through his pocket. “I remembered hiding under the bed. More than I wanted to.”

Evelyn let that sit before asking, “And Lizzy?”

“She got me breathing again. Took my hands, counted with me, gave me one thing to do at a time. Her coach says, ‘Breathe first, then move.’ It took a while, but it worked.”

Van glanced down the hall. “She stayed until I could breathe normally. Made me drink water. Told me to shower.”

A faint warmth entered Evelyn’s expression. “We’ve been underestimating that girl.”

Evelyn looked toward the door. “You still haven’t told me why you didn’t sleep.”

Van hesitated, then gave up. “I waited for Lizzy to fall asleep. After that I checked the windows, the doors, the bathroom, the vent. I moved the couch across the entrance and kept the dining chair where I could reach it. I told myself I was only being careful, but mostly I wanted to see anything coming before it got to her.”

Evelyn stepped closer and touched two fingers to his forearm. “Look at me.”

He did.

She held his gaze without entering his mind. “What do you need from me right now?”

Van almost answered automatically. He stopped and checked instead.

His heart wasn’t racing. No shadows moved in the corridor. He didn’t hear heavy wet breathing coming from the next room.

“Nothing right now.”

Evelyn didn’t release his arm yet.

“I’m tired,” he added. “I’m still thinking about it. But I’m here.”

She studied him for another second, then let go.

“It was bad,” Van said. “But it wasn’t like last time.”

The Alter demonstration had swallowed the room and everyone in it. He struggled against everyone he could reach because he couldn’t hear his own thoughts. Last night he had heard Lizzy counting.

Evelyn nodded. “I believe you.”

Some of the tension left Van’s shoulders.

“You recognized what was happening sooner,” she said. “And you accepted help. Keep that going.”

Van looked toward the stairs. He gave a tired laugh.

Evelyn’s hand dropped to her side. “Progress is rarely tidy.” She turned to leave, then stopped. “Didn’t she say Riverstone Trail? This leads to Riverside Trail.”

He ran to the door and checked the brass plaque again with hurried disbelief.

“God, I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”