CARDAN MONTESSORI
Something happened to her!
The room smelled of ink, firewood, and tension.
I sat at the head of the long stone table, fingers drumming restlessly. The council had been going around in circles for the last half hour, each of them throwing words like “threat,” “loyalty,” “balance,” and “public trust” into the air like they meant something.
Kai was beside me, quiet but alert. Elora, as usual, was chewing on her words before speaking. Malric kept glaring at everyone like he was ready to bite the next man who dared talk too long.
And Jasper... was rambling. Again.
“I’m saying,” Jasper said, pointing at a crumpled scroll, “if word gets out that a Nova assassin is under this roof, and breathing, the rest of the Alphas will consider you weak and find a way to…”
“I don’t c
