“Not hierarchy.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Structure.”
“Yes.” I smiled and let out a deep breath.
Stella nodded once.
“That is far more dangerous to her than you realize.”
I looked up. “Why?”
“Because if you prove that cooperation doesn’t require domination,” Stella said, “you unravel her central thesis.”
The words sent a small chill down my spine.
I thought about the orcs pressing at the Wards. About shifters arriving with children. About witches unpacking in the Academy.
And about Mariselle, the Priestess.
She had bargained with shadows to extend herself.
I was choosing to widen the circle of others instead.
The Academy had always been about midlife magic. About reinvention. About stepping into magic after thinking you’d missed your chance.
Perhaps reinvention didn’t end with witches.
Maybe it extended to the walls themselves.
Stella lifted her teacup once more.
“If you’re going to do this,” she said calmly, “do it with intention. Do not apologize for growth.”
I nodded slowly.
Vampires helping orcs.
Shifters guarding witches.
An Academy built for one purpose, considering something larger.
Change was no longer approaching.
It had arrived.
And survival, I realized, did not belong to the strongest.
It belonged to those willing to evolve.
I only hoped the Academy agreed.
Chapter Seven
I heard a crash outside, and my heart raced. I glanced at Keegan, who shot out of his chair as the sound carried through the window sharply enough that every conversation in the shop thinned at the edges.
A voice outside rose, sounding frustrated and tight.
