The examiner had no composure left.
Obligation held the last pieces together. That, and the fact that nearly every eye in the room was still pointed at her.
"Whenever you're ready."
Kaiden pushed off the wall and crossed to the pedestal.
The room changed before he touched anything.
The girls' tests had been spectacular in ways the human brain could understand.
Space had bent. Storms had howled. Moonlight had formed blades. Dominion had cracked the floor, Carnage had steamed, Light had burned gold, and Hearth had made hardened officials remember what home felt like.
Every one of those readings had been loud.
Yet a quiet settled around Kaiden before his palm even touched the orb.
The technicians slowed at their consoles without deciding to. Grace's fingers went still on her tablet. The officials near the far wall shifted back a step, then looked down at their own feet because none of them remembered moving.
Vespera watched from behind the formation, her face unreadable.
