Page 76 of Darkness and Deceit
And whether Mara will admit it or not, we both know Lilith Knight was the real target.
I have seen the way the Balance moves around her. I have felt the tug in the threads when she steps into a room. She is not only powerful—she is catalytic. Like a match held too close to dry kindling.
And I cannot get her out of my head.
Her eyes, defiant even when surrounded. The pulse of her magic when she pushed through pain and panic. The impossible feel of her presence—Predator and Prey, fury and mercy, all atonce. It does not make sense. It should not. But somehow… it does.
Mara’s voice cuts through the fog in my mind. “You question our role in this.”
It is not a question.
And for a moment, I am too tired to lie.
I exhale slowly, watching a young Predator across the clearing. He is hunched by a scorched patch of earth, shoulders trembling. Grieving. His hands are blackened with ash.
“He was still a student,” I murmur.
Mara follows my gaze. “They all are.”
“So were we.”
Her silence is answer enough.
She turns to me, voice cool as ever. “The Rogues seek to fracture what little order remains. If we scatter ourselves trying to protect every academy, every student, we will break. You know that.”
I do. But it does not make it right.
“We were meant to preserve the Balance,” I say quietly. “But lately, it feels like we’re hoarding it. Deciding who’s worth saving. Choosing who gets to be protected.”
Something twists in Mara’s expression. Something that might be disappointment. Or warning. I can not tell anymore.
“We are still recovering,” she says. “Other temples are reinforcing their defenses. We have requested reinforcements for the academy—seventeen, from the northern Keep. They will help restabilize the perimeter.”
“Seventeen is not enough.”
“It is all we could spare.”
I grit my teeth. I want to believe that. I really do. But I am starting to see the cracks in the story I have been told my whole life. The noble mission. The sacred duty. The illusion of control.
Maybe we are not the ones holding the Balance steady anymore.
Maybe we are just trying to convince ourselves we still can.
Mara’s voice softens. “Bonding will be expedited. Younger Keepers, especially. Including you.”
My head snaps toward her. That is not something they do lightly. Bonding a Keeper and a Protector is sacred. Rare. Usually done with time and ceremony.
This? This reeks of desperation.
Still, I bow my head. “Understood.”
Her eyes narrow, but she does not press.
“One more thing,” she says. “One of the Protectors arriving is Lilith Knight’s father. This is not to be shared—not yet. The truth must wait.”
My thoughts still. “Of course.”
But even as I speak, something clenches in my chest.
