Lucian’s POV
My father sent the letter to the council.
I say it in my head twice before I say it out loud, because saying it out loud makes it real in a way that requires me to then decide what to do with it, and I need the two seconds of internal repetition to find the version of myself that can handle the doing.
“My father,” I say. “He sent it.”
The room absorbs this differently depending on who is in it.
Halsey’s expression does not change, but something behind her eyes sharpens. She is already working through the implications, I can see it, filing and reorganising.
Bowen closes his eyes briefly. Not shock. Something quieter than shock. The specific look of a man who has played chess for sixty years and has just watched a piece move in a direction he did not account for.
Caden sa
