LOGINBella’s POV“Say that again.”Thor didn’t repeat himself right away, which told me he understood exactly how badly I needed a second to catch up before he made me hear it twice.“Ronan turned himself in at the council chamber,” he said finally. “Mid-audience. Told them his father isn’t the real threat. Told them you’re the target, not just Draven.”My legs found the porch railing before I’d consciously decided I needed something to hold onto.“He said that to the council. Out loud. In front of everyone.”“According to the runner who brought word back, yes.”Thor’s face had gone carefully neutral, the particular blankness he wore when he was trying not to let me see how worried he actually was. “Draven’s still in there. The presiding elder ordered the chamber cleared of everyone but council and immediate parties. I don’t have anything past that.”I stared out at the yard, at the same spot where Gordon had been carrying equipment back into the garage that morning like ordinary work could
Draven’s POVThe council chamber hadn’t changed in four years, and that fact alone made my skin want to crawl straight off my body.Same stone floor, worn smooth by feet that had stood exactly where mine stood now, waiting on judgment they’d already decided before ever calling the meeting. Same high seats, seven of them, elders who’d looked old the last time I stood here and hadn’t aged a visible day since, as though time itself moved differently for people who spent centuries deciding who got to keep breathing.I had not set foot in this chamber since the week they buried her. I remembered that day clearly the cold of this stone under my knees when I finally stopped standing the way none of them looked at me directly the entire time they explained why nothing could be done. It had been four years. The room still smelled the same old incense and older judgment.Bella was not beside me. That had been my one condition going in something I had negotiated hard the night and she had hated
Bella’s POV“That’s not council wax.”Draven’s voice had gone somewhere flat and careful, the kind of calm that only shows up right before something breaks.“Then whose is it,” I asked, already crossing the yard to see for myself.He turned the letter so I could look at it without taking it from his hands. It was like he still wanted to hold onto it in case it was news. The second seal was pressed into the paper below the councils seal. It was smaller and older. I didn't recognize it. It wasn't a wolf. It wasn't a crest. It looked like a knot. Three lines twisted together."I've seen that mark before " Thor said, walking over to us. Gordon was behind him. "Once. On the rope they used to tie Claras wrists."The air got colder.. Maybe it was just me."That was the rope from the night Dravens sister died " I said. Draven knew which sister I meant."The same " Draven said quietly.Gordon studied the seal like it was a machine. "Council wax breaks clean. This ones different. Older. Not mad
Bella’s POVDawn came up gray and slow, the kind of light that makes everything look worse instead of better.I sat on the porch steps with a blanket someone had pressed into my hands hours ago and never asked for back, watching Thor and Gordon carry the last of the equipment back into the garage like ordinary work could paper over what had happened inside it overnight. Nobody had said much since the intruder’s body had been moved. There wasn’t much left to say that wouldn’t sound small against everything we’d already survived by then.Draven finally found me moving slow with a new set of stitches on his arm from the claw marks."You should be asleep " he. He sat down next, to me without asking if it was okay."I think you should be asleep too " I replied."That is fair " he said.We just sat there for a bit not saying anything. The silence was different this time. It was not because we were hiding things from each other. We were just tired. We had made it through a tough night. I lea
Bella’s POV“A name,” Draven said. “Now.”The intruder’s chest was heaving, fear and exhaustion tangled together into something that looked close to breaking. I’d seen that particular expression before, on Clara, in the dirt, right before she said too much and paid for it.I didn’t like how familiar it felt. Some part of me wanted to tell Draven to stop pushing, to let the poor terrified stranger breathe for one second before demanding more, but the colder, more practical part of me understood we might not have the luxury of patience tonight. Whoever had sent them had already proven, twice now, that they wouldn’t hesitate to close a mouth the moment it started saying too much.“Ronan’s father.” The words came out fast, like they’d been sitting loaded the whole time, the same way Clara’s had.“He’s the one who paid for tonight. The plant, the frame job, all of it. He wants Gordon discredited before the tournament gets announced. Wants your own people doubting you before you ever step on
Bella’s POV“It’s me. Don’t scream.”Frey’s breath was hot against my ear, and my whole body had already decided to scream before my brain caught up and told it not to. I swallowed the sound whole. It sat in my chest like a stone I couldn’t cough up.“Frey.” My own voice came out wrecked. “What’s happening.”“Perimeter’s breached. West wall.” He had my wrist in a grip that was going to leave bruises, and I didn’t care, not even a little. “I killed the lights myself. Whoever’s in here sees better in the dark than we do. I wasn’t giving them that.”“That was you.”Better me than them." His grip didn’t loosen. "Gordon, Thor you both with me.”“Here " Thor called out close by sounding really scared.Then Gordon’s voice, from away and underneath it something weird. Something that didn’t belong to any of us.Frey’s whole body went stiff against mine. I felt the change go through him like electricity.“That’s not one of mine.”I don’t know when I got scared. Fear just showed up all at once l
Draven’s POVI dragged my jacket on, the stitches pulling with every move. I felt a few tear open but I ignored it, striding towards the door.Thor was waiting outside with the look he got when he had already decided something was a bad idea and had also already accepted that it was going to happen
Bella's POV I have waited patiently for days, waiting for Draven to come and visit me as he promised, but I haven't seen him since then. I was too curious to know the reason he would rather not fulfill his promise. “Today has been the fourth day since I last saw Draven. He promised that he would c
Bella's POV I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't see the environment clearly because I was just waking up; I needed to get myself first. As I turned and faced up, at first it was blurred from my view, but as I gently opened my eyes, well, it was as if magic happened. “What's good here?” I muttered
Draven's POV:“Were you not informed by Thor how busy I am today?” I asked immediately as she walked inside my study room.I sat behind the table, a book swapped on it. My hands kept scanning a particular paper, looking for a particular information but I got distracted now that Clara was standing i







