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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.