Isaac's corridor held, frost thick along both walls, students still filing through in careful, orderly lines by the time Vane got Anastasia inside the perimeter.
"She stays here," Vane said. "Whatever's left in that courtyard doesn't get past this line."
Isaac didn't look away from the ice he was maintaining, sweat cutting clean tracks through the frost dusting his face. "Understood. Go."
Anastasia caught Vane's sleeve before he could turn, just for a second, her grip firmer than he expected given how spent she'd looked minutes ago.
"Bring him back too," she said. "Lancelot. If you see him before I do."
"I don't know where he is."
"I know you don't." Something raw showed in her face for just that one sentence before the composure came back down. "Bring Nyx back too. Whatever she is right now, whoever she used to be. I don't hate her enough to want this for her."
