“Faster than expected,” I say. “He’s consolidating rogues into coordinated units.”
Brooke frowns. “That doesn’t happen spontaneously.”
“No,” I agree. “It doesn’t.”
Conrad leans over the map. “He’s planning a full pressure strike.”
Magnus nods once. “Not a raid. Not harassment. A takeover attempt.”
Silence settles. Heavy. Final. Then Magnus looks at me.
“You understand what this means.”
I do. Better than I want to.
“It means he’s done probing,” I say. “And starting the real push.”
“And Tessa?” Delilah asks quietly.
The room shifts slightly at that. Because now it’s not abstract anymore. It never really was. But now it’s undeniable.
“She’s still a target,” I say.
That’s all I can give. Because anything more sounds like fear. And fear is not something I can afford right now. Magnus nods slowly.
“Then we secure her,” he says.
“I already am,” I reply automatically.
His gaze sharpens slightly.
“No,” he says. “Wefortifyher position.”
That lands differently. Because it means something more structured. More permanent.
More deliberate. And more dangerous.
I leave the council room before it ends. Not because I’m avoiding it. Because I already know the outcome. The town is moving into full defensive posture. No more waiting. No more guessing. No more pretending this can be avoided. War is no longer coming. It’s here.
And as I step outside, I see Tessa across the street through the bookstore window. Standing behind the counter. Watching. Not afraid. Just aware. Our eyes meet through the glass. And for a second?—
Everything else drops away. Forest. Rogues. Damon. All of it. Just her. And me. And the bond between us tightening again—not breaking, not fading, but preparing. Because whatever comes next…
We don’t get to step away from it anymore. We survive it together. Or not at all. I don’t make it far from the council building before I feel it again. That pressure. Not scent. Not sound.
Something deeper. Like the forest itself has leaned closer to town. I stop at the edge of the street.
Eli nearly runs into me. “What is it?”
I don’t answer right away. Because I’m listening. Not with my ears. With everything else. The shift is subtle at first. A ripple in the perimeter. Then another. Then?—
Three at once. Too coordinated to be coincidence. My jaw tightens.
“They’re repositioning,” I say.
Eli follows my gaze toward the tree line beyond town. “Already?”
“No,” I correct quietly. “Not already.”
