To us.
"Again,"I order, stepping back, rolling my shoulders.
She blinks, still caught in the moment.
"What?"
"Fight me again."
She hesitates.
And I smirk.
"Unless you need a moment to recover?"
Her eyes flash.
And I barely fucking dodge her next strike.
22
XYRON
The council chamber is suffocating.
Twelve men and women, all dressed in their finest deception, sit in a perfect half-circle, their black robes pooling over the polished obsidian floor.
The space is full of incense and unspoken threats.
I take my seat.
I don’t bow.
I don’t speak first.
Fuck, I don’t need to.
They called me here.
And I already know why.
"You are keeping them alive."
Kaelith speaks first. He doesn’t raise his voice.
He doesn’t need to.
His words sink into the room like poisoned knives.
I don’t react.
I don’t have to.
I just let the silence do the work for me.
Because silence is power.
And right now, I want them to feel it.