Maya tied off the torn strip of white linen around Alex's right palm, her knuckles carefully avoiding the blistered skin and the reddened mana lines tracking up his wrist.
A brass bell chimed from the ceiling of the twenty-fourth-floor suite, followed instantly by the Spire's sterile, automated voice. "Morning inspection and ward maintenance will commence in twenty minutes. All male cadets must remain in their assigned quarters".
Maya cursed quietly, dropping her hands. Her academy blouse hung completely open. Several buttons had been torn off or crushed against the mattress during the night. Rather than searching the carpet for the missing pieces, she gathered the two front tails of the fabric and tied them in a tight, practical knot beneath her ribs. It left her midriff exposed, but it held the garment together.
