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“We will care for them,” the knight said. “You may go.”

It was not a request.

Red flared in Adam’s chest. He opened his mouth to argue, but Vic tugged his sleeve to pull him away before he said something he shouldn’t.

In the magical hierarchy, Adam lay close to the bottom. He’d had some sway when Silver, the King of Swords, had named Adam his page, but he’d been placed on probation nearly six months ago, making him, once again, the lowest of the low.

Their group filed out of the theater, quiet, subdued, and down by one as Cole had not awoken. The street outside, Colfax, was too quiet. Adam suspected the elves were already at work to contain the story, but they wouldn’t be able to keep it under wraps, not with Cathedra dead.

“Are you two okay?” Adam asked when they’d gotten a few blocks away.

“Yeah,” Jodi said.

Emily murmured agreement. She looked back, her expression worried. Cole was her roommate and friend.

“I’m okay to drive,” Jodi said. “I’ll get Emily home.”

Vic hugged her. Adam gave a nod.

He was on good terms with his cousin, but he still didn’t like to be touched if he could avoid it.

Vic was the usual exception, but he knew Adam’s new sensitivity had its limits, so he didn’t try to hold Adam’s hand as they made their way toward his car. On a warmer night, if they hadn’t had work the next day, they could have walked from their apartment.

“So that’s not going any better,” Vic said as he unlocked the doors with his key fob. “With the elves, I mean.”

“No. No, it’s not.” Adam shook his head. The entire point of his taking on the role of the Page of Swords was to help bridge the mortal and immortal worlds, but his recent actions had put him on the bench and possibly broken things beyond repair.

They climbed in and Vic started the engine.

“You did good tonight. You saved a lot of lives.”

“But not everyone.”

Even as he said it, he could feel that he wasn’t as shaken by Cathedra’s death as he should be. He told himself it was because he didn’t know her, but he wasn’t even that worried about Cole.

Granted, Adam didn’t like the guy, but that wasn’t it. He’d been getting colder, harder, and wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

Things had changed since the fall. He’d taken a life—two if you wanted to get technical about it—and it felt like something had broken inside him. The problem was that the numbness was comforting. He knew that was wrong, to not feel it. He should never be okay with what he’d done.

They were almost home when Vic said, “It’s lucky we were there, and that you had your earbuds.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“What if it was the opposite?”

“What do you mean?”

Adam clenched his fists and let out a breath.

He turned on the stereo. Jake Blount sang something low and lovely, easing Adam’s frustration.

“What if it was there for me?”

“Because you’ve been to the Between?”

“Yeah.”