Chapter 45 Chapter 44
If silence had weight, it pressed down on my chest the moment Luna’s image vanished from the mirror.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke. The council chamber felt smaller, the air thick with tension and the sharp tang of fear I had learned to recognize far too well. My fingers were still curled around the edge of the table, knuckles white, my pulse thundering loud enough that I half expected everyone else to hear it. Luna’s voice echoed in my head, unfinished, cut off mid-breath, and the not knowing was worse than any threat that could have been spoken aloud.
Thalia was the first to recover. She straightened, her composure snapping back into place with practiced ease, and lifted her chin as if this were merely an unexpected complication rather than a calculated violation of every safeguard we had in place. “Clear the room,” she ordered calmly. “This discussion does not require an audience.”
The murmurs rose in protest, but one look from her silenced them. One by one, council members filed out, their faces tight with unease, their eyes flicking toward me with a mix of pity and calculation that made my stomach churn. Morgath lingered until the last possible moment, his smile lingering like a bruise.
“This is fascinating,” he said softly, his gaze locked on mine. “I look forward to seeing how you respond.”
Kael stepped forward before I could, his presence a wall at my side. “Leave,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
Morgath’s smile widened, but he obeyed, disappearing through the doors with infuriating ease.
When the chamber finally fell quiet, the echo of the closing doors sounded like a verdict. I forced myself to breathe, slow and deep, anchoring my thoughts before panic could take hold. Kael’s hand found my back, steady and grounding, while Thalia approached the table, her eyes fixed on the mirror as if it were a puzzle she could dismantle with logic alone.
“That was not a simple message,” she said. “It was a provocation.”
“They showed me Luna,” I replied, my voice trembling despite my efforts. “That was not subtle.”
“No,” Thalia agreed. “It was intentional. They want you unbalanced.”
Azrael, who had slipped back into the chamber unnoticed, leaned against the far wall, his expression uncharacteristically grim. “They also want us divided,” he added. “This bypassed our wards. That is a statement.”
I turned to him, anger and fear tangling in my chest. “Then fix it,” I snapped before I could stop myself. “Find her.”
His eyes softened, and he pushed off the wall, stepping closer. “We will. But charging in blind is exactly what they expect.”
“I do not care what they expect,” I shot back. “That was my sister.”
The bond flared in response to my rising emotions, Kael’s concern bleeding into me, steady but insistent. His hand tightened at my back, a silent reminder to breathe, to think. I hated that I needed it, even as I clung to the control it gave me.
Thalia folded her hands, her gaze sharp. “We need to assess what we know. The mirror was a conduit, not a tracking device. Whoever did this wanted you to see her, not locate her.”
“So they could have killed her,” I said quietly. “But they did not.”
Azrael nodded. “Which means she is leverage.”
The word hit hard, settling like a stone in my stomach. Luna reduced to a bargaining chip because of me. Because of what I was.
“I will not negotiate with them,” I said, my voice steadier now, resolve hardening beneath the fear. “Whatever they want, the answer is no.”
Kael turned to face me fully, his eyes searching mine. “We will protect her,” he said firmly. “But we must be careful. Every move you make now carries weight.”
“I know,” I replied. “That is why I will not let them dictate this.”
Thalia studied me for a long moment, then nodded once. “Very well. Then we proceed strategically.”
She began outlining contingencies with the same calm precision she always used, speaking of intelligence networks, covert sweeps, and diplomatic pressure as if this were any other threat to be neutralized. I listened, absorbing the words without fully processing them, my thoughts looping back to Luna’s face, her fear, the way her voice had shaken when she spoke my name.
Eventually, the meeting adjourned, each of them dispersing to their tasks. The chamber emptied again, leaving only Kael and me in the aftermath.
I sank into a chair, exhaustion crashing over me now that the adrenaline had faded. Kael crouched in front of me, his hands resting on my knees, his touch gentle but firm enough to pull my focus back to the present.
“Look at me,” he said softly.
I did, meeting his gaze, and the concern I found there nearly undid me. “I cannot lose her,” I whispered. “I have already lost too much.”
“You will not,” he said, certainty threaded through his voice. “We will not allow it.”
I shook my head, frustration bubbling up. “You keep saying that, but they got past our defenses. They reached her. They reached me.”
“And they revealed themselves in doing so,” he countered. “That is not nothing.”
I exhaled slowly, nodding despite the knot in my chest. “I hate this,” I admitted. “I hate that they can still touch my life like this.”
Kael leaned closer, his forehead resting against mine. “I know.”
The intimacy of the moment made my breath hitch, the bond humming between us, steady and warm. His presence grounded me in a way nothing else could, and for a moment, the world narrowed to the space between us.
A soft knock interrupted us, and Azrael stepped into the doorway, his expression apologetic but intent. “I thought you should know,” he said, “my scouts picked up movement near the outer territories. Nothing definitive yet, but it aligns with the timing of the message.”
I straightened, resolve sharpening. “Then that is where we start.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Absolutely not.”
I met his gaze evenly. “You said every move I make carries weight. That includes sitting back while they use my sister against me.”
“This is too dangerous,” he insisted. “They want you exposed.”
“They already have me exposed,” I replied. “The difference is whether I let them control that.”
Azrael watched us carefully, tension flickering across his face. “There may be another way,” he said cautiously. “A controlled appearance. You show strength, not desperation. Let them see you are not afraid.”
I considered it, my mind racing through possibilities, risks, consequences. “A message of our own,” I said slowly. “Not through mirrors. Through presence.”
Kael closed his eyes briefly, as if bracing himself. When he opened them again, his expression was resolute. “If you do this, you do not do it alone.”
I reached for his hand, squeezing it. “I would not want to.”
The decision settled between us, heavy but inevitable. Whatever game was being played, it had moved beyond shadows and whispers. They had crossed a line, and I refused to be a passive piece on their board.
As we left the chamber together, a strange calm settled over me, the kind that came before a storm. Somewhere out there, Luna was waiting, and whoever had taken her thought they could break me by threatening what I loved.
They were about to learn just how wrong they were, because if this was a test, then I was ready to burn everything down to pass it.