Page 64 of Thexan

“We make it obvious,” I said. “You’re not here because I treated you and let you stay. You’re here because I chose you to be here.”

“That will escalate their response.”

“Yes,” I said, meeting his gaze without hesitation. “It will.”

I held there for a moment, letting that settle fully into place, because once I stepped outside, there wouldn’t be any pulling it back.

“Better they react to the truth than something halfway,” I said.

“Yes.”

I turned back to the door, and this time, I opened it.

The shift outside became immediate and undeniable.

Conversations didn’t stop all at once, but they faltered, breaking and reforming in quieter tones. Movement slowed, people lingering where they stood instead of continuing on to whatever task had brought them there in the first place. The attention wasn’t dramatic, but it was focused, and it settled across the space between me and the rest of the settlement with a weight I could feel.

Tanner was already there.

He stood a few yards from the infirmary, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, his posture relaxed in a way that wasn’t relaxed at all. His gaze moved past me without hesitation, taking in what he could see inside before returning to my face.

“You want to tell me what’s going on, Brynn?” he asked.

There was no accusation in his voice yet.

Just expectation.

I stepped fully into the doorway, not blocking the view behind me, not trying to soften what he was about to see.

“Yes,” I said.

And as I felt Thexan’s presence at my back—steady, unyielding, and no longer something I could separate from myself—I understood that there wasn’t any version of this conversation that would leave things the way they had been.

Not for me.

Not for him.

And not for the people waiting to hear what I was about to say.

Chapter Fifteen

Brynn

Tanner didn’t move closer right away, but he didn’t look away either. His attention stayed fixed on me with the kind of steady focus that meant he was already putting pieces together, even if he didn’t yet have all of them. Around him, a few others had slowed enough to make it obvious they were listening without making it obvious they were listening, and that quiet shift in the air pressed in from all sides.

I stepped fully out of the infirmary and let the door remain open behind me, not as an invitation, but as a refusal to hide what was inside. If I tried to soften this or delay it, it would only make the reaction worse when it came, and I didn’t have the luxury of easing anyone into the truth.

“You’ve got something in there that doesn’t belong to this settlement,” Tanner said, his voice even but edged with something that hadn’t quite turned into anger yet. “I’m giving you a chance to explain it before I decide what to do about it.”

I met his gaze without flinching, even though I could feel the weight of everyone else waiting behind him.

“He’s not something,” I said. “And he’s here because I brought him in.”

“That’s not the part I’m questioning,” Tanner replied, his eyes flicking briefly past me again before returning to my face. “You bring people in all the time. Injured, half-starved, barely holding together—we’ve all seen that. This is different.”

“Yes,” I said, not trying to soften it. “It is.”

“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” he asked.