Serena
Kael didn’t sit. He just stood there before me, gaze fixed on the dark stretch of trees beyond the glass, and for a moment I wondered if he would even speak at all or keep me waiting like he so often did when words burned too heavy on his tongue. But then he said it, steady and low, as though admitting it cost him something.
“The Elders asked for you.”
My chest pulled tight. “For me?”
His eyes cut to mine finally, sharp and unreadable. “They want a meeting. They’re not saying why, but I know it won’t be good.” He paused, as though measuring the weight of the next words. “They’re circling, Serena. They don’t like that you’re here, they don’t like that Ari is mine, and they don’t like what it makes me look like.”
I crossed my arms, grounding myself, though the floor already felt
