As soon as she loosened the metal bands, Waver withdrew his hands toward himself again, and returned to rubbing his irritated wrists, testing how much space was between the metal and his skin. Now, he could slide a fingertip beneath either cuff at least, trying to soothe the soreness.

He didn't look up again until the mention of his father. Waver drew his knees up, curling his arms around them, but he did not hold the woman's gaze, instead staring past her at the door.

"You killed him," he pointed out quietly. Wasn't that a consequence? Waver still didn't even know who these people were or what they wanted, but the stranger was right about at least one thing: Waver had definitely held no sway over his father's decisions.