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He held the phone to his ear, then explained the situation to whoever was on the other end of the line He listened for a tiers to his te well

“Yes, sir, and I understand that, but I need you to consider what you’re asking As it stands, Gavriel’s fallen are loyal to hi, the fourth years alone will not tip the scales in our favor”

Toland looked hopeful, and I adht it was stupid, but I admired it all the same

“Their finals? No, but—yes, of course I understand that, but—firsthand experienceNo, of course I don’t think we should let every new recruit onto the battlefield, but these students have already—no Yes, sir, I understand what the co to start a mutiny Of course That will not be necessary, sir, I assure you—yes I see Thank you for your time”

He pulled the phone away from his ear, his features oddly still and i to hide his e red

“They said no” It wasn’t a question

Dru nodded “They said no The committee is of the opinion that this situation needs to be handled by the book Though, frankly, I have read the book, and there isn’t a chapter on how to deal with a full-scale invasion Nevertheless, they have decided that rule of law is the only thing that separates us from Gavriel’s fallen”

Toland turned a deeper shade and sla to his feet “Then they don’t knoe’re up against! They didn’t see the final attack on the school! The monsters were in ranks, Dru! They were trained! Military discipline! Rule of law!” He punctuated his outburst with another fist again

st the desk

The Custodian raked a hand through his hair and blew out a breath “I agree that rules, while excellent guidelines, should occasionally be broken in tiestured at us, and for a ive us up and tell Toland about the phone “Allowing untried students to wander around the underworld, for example”

“To be fair, he didn’t really allow that,” Jayce interjected “We just kind of went”

Dru nodded “Interesting”

He said it slowly and maintained eye contact with my blondIf I didn’t know better, I could have sworn he was trying to iain

Toland sat down and wiped beads of sweat from his brow “So what do they expect us to do? Carry on, business as usual?”

“Precisely” Dru kept his features carefully neutral, but I could tell the words burned a little as they came out “All students raduates and fourth-year students are to join the fight”