Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty-four

Chapter 54

Lia’s POV

I knew she was behind me before I heard her voice.

The air in the corridor shifted, heavier, colder, the way it does right before a storm breaks.

“Miss Mason,” Brie said smoothly. “We need to talk.”

I didn’t turn immediately. I made myself finish stacking the ledger books in my arms, set them neatly on the shelf, and then face her.

“About what?” I asked.

She smiled in that slow, deliberate way of hers, like a snake deciding whether to strike. “Your future. And Edgar’s.”

Something in my chest tightened. “If you’re here to threaten me”

“Oh, Lia.” She stepped closer, her heels clicking on the stone floor. “If I wanted to threaten you, you’d already know it. This is a courtesy.”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t need your courtesy.”

Her smile didn’t falter. “But you do need my influence. Whether you admit it or not.”

I stayed silent.

She tilted her head, studying me like I was a particularly stubborn puzzle. “You’ve noticed the shift in the council, haven’t you? The whispers. The urgency. You must be wondering why.”

“I’m more concerned with Edgar’s health than politics,” I said.

“That’s exactly your problem,” she replied. “You think this is about health. It’s about control. Always has been.”

I wanted to walk away. But I also wanted to know just how much she knew.

“What’s your point?”

She stepped even closer, close enough that I caught the faint scent of her perfume, crisp, sharp, like winter air. “The council is reconsidering its options. Edgar’s… limitations are forcing them to be creative.”

“Limitations?” My voice was sharper than I meant.

She smiled again, all teeth this time. “Time is not his friend. And when time runs out, the council will have to choose someone who can hold the pack together.”

“You mean you.”

“I mean someone… suitable.” She let the word hang between us like a blade.

I clenched my jaw. “If you’re so confident in your position, why are you wasting time talking to me?”

“Because,” she said softly, “you still have influence with him. Influence I can use… or remove.”

There it was, the threat she claimed she wasn’t here to make.

“I’m not your pawn,” I said.

“No,” she agreed. “You’re a liability. But even liabilities can be useful when handled correctly.”

I wanted to snap at her, to tell her she’d never get away with this. But the truth was, she already had. She’d been pulling strings for years while the rest of us were still figuring out there was a game being played.

So instead, I asked, “What do you want?”

Her eyes glittered. “Convince Edgar to accept the council’s proposal when it comes. Don’t argue. Don’t fight it. Smile, nod, and stay out of the way.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll watch him fall, and when he does, you’ll be blamed for it.”

I took a slow breath. “You think you can scare me into betraying him.”

“I think,” she said, “that you love him enough to do what’s necessary for his survival. Even if that means stepping aside.”

She turned then, her heels clicking away, leaving the scent of cold air and calculation behind her.

When I reached the main hall, Quinn was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed.

“She cornered you, didn’t she?” he said.

“Did you know she was going to?” I asked.

“I suspected,” she replied. “She’s rattled. That makes her dangerous, but it also makes her sloppy.”

“She said the council’s going to make a proposal. That Edgar should accept it.”

Quinn’s mouth tightened. “Which means they’re close to making their move.”

I hesitated, then said, “She wants me to help convince him.”

“And will you?”

“No,” I said immediately.

“Good,” he replied. Then, after a beat, “But be careful. The more she thinks she can’t control you, the more she’ll try to remove you from the board entirely.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” Quinn said, “that you should stop walking anywhere alone.”

By late afternoon, the corridors were buzzing with quiet conversation. The council chambers were locked, but I saw elders slipping in and out with faces that were either grim or calculating.

I knew Brie was in there. And I knew whatever she was selling, she was selling it hard.

When I finally made it back to Edgar’s rooms, he was sitting in the high-backed chair by the window, staring out at the fading light.

“You were gone a while,” he said.

“I was… waylaid,” I replied carefully.

“By who?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does when that look is on your face,” he said, turning toward me.

I hesitated, then sat across from him. “The council is planning something. I think it’s coming soon.”

His jaw tightened. “What did they say?”

“Not them. Brie.”

At her name, his expression darkened. “What did she want?”

I swallowed. “She wants me to convince you to accept whatever the council offers.”

“And will you?” he asked quietly.

I met his eyes. “No. I’m with you, Edgar. Whatever comes.”

Something in his face softened, just for a moment. Then it was gone, replaced by the hard mask he wore in battle.

“Then we need to be ready,” he said. “Because they’re not going to wait much longer.”

I didn’t tell him the rest of what Brie had said. Not yet.

Because if I did, I knew it would push him toward a decision we weren’t ready to face.

Not yet.