The first node we chose wasn’t the biggest. It was the one that had already tasted too much blood.
“Old judicial quarter,” Riven said, tapping the glowing point on the city map. “Under the abandoned tribunal hall. Council used it for ‘correction’ rituals back when they still pretended to try people instead of just sentencing them.”
“Perfect place to start,” Mara muttered. “Haunt the ghosts that deserve it.”
We stood in a briefing room instead of the war room this time. Smaller. Closer. Less audience. On the table: the map, a stack of hastily drafted node rites, a crate of ward stones Nolan and Aria had co-crafted, and a box of very mundane first-aid supplies that made my stomach twitch.
“This is a test run,” Nolan said. “We go slow. We strip their ritual off the stone, layer ours in. W
