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The sun hadn't even crested the horizon when I realized no one was going to bed.
The mansion was quiet in the way a battlefield is quiet after a fight — everyone breathing, moving, whispering, but the air still felt heavy with danger.
Rin was locked away in the magical containment space we'd built overnight, her body suspended in the faint blue shimmer of the caging spell. Even asleep, she didn't look peaceful. Her ears twitched at sounds only she could hear, tail flicking with slow, restless movements. I had to force myself to look away.
The rest of us had migrated to the library.
The room was warm from the constant glow of enchanted lamps, but the table we were gathered around was buried under an avalanche of books — cracked leather tomes, scrolls sealed with brittle ribbons, and volumes so ancient they left flecks of dust on our hands.
