PATRICIA.
I had slowed a few steps behind, my fingers brushing my empty chest before panic flickered through me. The jade pendant—my mother's pendant—was gone. It must have snapped loose when we were rushing earlier. I turned back immediately, scanning the ground until the faint green glint caught my eye. I picked it up, curling my hand around it like it could still slip away if I loosened my grip for even a second.
By the time I straightened and hurried forward again, Darren was already gone.
When I finally caught up, breath shallow, I was told he had been assigned to room 402. The words landed flat, mechanical, as if they meant nothing. A Rogue was instructed to escort me, and I followed without protest, my legs moving on instinct rather than command.
