The glowing map hovering above my hand had already started to fade by the time Cassian spoke again.
"The Ring won't hold the image for long."
Kael turned toward the Beta, who'd appeared at the garden entrance moments before, summoned by whatever instinct told him something had shifted. "Close every entrance to the palace. No one leaves until I say so."
"Do I tell the council?"
"No."
"The Elder?"
"Especially not the Elder."
I watched the Beta absorb that without argument, understanding settling over his face that his Alpha had just openly excluded the second most powerful man in Moonfang from something that mattered.
The four of us studied the fading symbol together, none of us recognizing it at first, its lines too worn by whatever centuries had passed since anyone last needed to k
