I don’t move farther into the room yet. Kael stays at my side. Drazan steps forward.
“We weren’t alone out there,” he says.
That’s how he opens it, no easing into it, and no softening. The room stills. Amara’s gaze sharpens.
“Explain.”
Drazan doesn’t look at me. He looks at Kael. And for a second there’s something there. Permission. Or maybe acknowledgment. Kael steps forward. He doesn’t look at them right away. His gaze moves once over the room.
“They are not of this world,” he says.
No hesitation. No uncertainty. Rosalind doesn’t react immediately and neither does Amara, but I see it. That moment where something shifts.
“Define not of this world,” Amara says.
Calm and controlled. Kael’s jaw tightens.
“They took me,” he says.
That does it. The room changes, not loudly, but the air tightens. Focus sharpens.
“Who?” Rosalind asks.
“I do not know.”
“They have been watching,” he continues. “For a long time.” A pause. “They understand this world.” Another pause. “They do not belong to it.”
Silence settles. Heavy. Calculating. Amara leans forward.
“What do they want?”
Kael doesn’t answer immediately. That’s the problem. Because it means he doesn’t know.
“I was not their target,” he says finally.
My stomach drops. Rosalind’s gaze sharpens.
“Then what was?”
A beat. And I already know what they’re going to say. I see it in the way their expressions shift. The way their attention flicks—not to Kael—but outward. Beyond him. Beyond us.
That’s when I realize that neither one of them is surprised. Not a hint of shock. He just announced aliens have been watching the planet for a long damn time and they not only take it in stride, they accept it like they already knew it.
“Epis,” Amara says quietly.
The word settles into the room like something already known. Drazan exhales slowly.
“That’s where my thought went,” Drazan says.
Kael’s head turns slightly.
“No.” All of them look at him. He doesn’t raise his voice, but there’s something in the way he stands now. Certainty. “I do not know their purpose,” he continues. “But it is not simple acquisition.”
Rosalind’s expression hardens.
“Then what is it?”
Kael’s gaze lifts and he meets hers.
