The air in the Council chamber was suffocating. Each breath felt too thick, weighed down by the presence of the Council members. Sienna’s gaze flickered briefly to Ryder, still bound by the runic chains, his body bruised but no longer lifeless. The chains that held him shimmered with an unsettling energy, pulsing like they had a life of their own.
She turned to Elder Kane, who now stood with arms folded, his piercing eyes narrowing as he surveyed her. The heavy silence that filled the room seemed to stretch for eternity. Sienna’s chest tightened with dread. She had been so certain she’d done the right thing by freeing Ryder, but now that certainty was being drowned by the weight of Kane’s gaze. The atmosphere in the chamber had shifted, and it wasn’t just the runic chains binding Ryder th
