By morning, the compound had shifted its focus entirely toward identifying whoever had marked Marcus, and the search led, uncomfortably, back to the very council meeting we had all attended the day before.
Only senior members knew our full itinerary, Ronan said, pacing the small planning room with a tension that had not eased since the previous night. Which narrows the list considerably, and none of the names on it are ones I want to be considering right now.
Cole, present for the discussion despite the lingering wariness some members still held toward him, cleared his throat carefully. I should mention something, he said. Someone from my own contacts reached out yesterday, right around the time the council was voting. Wanted to know our exact timeline for returning to the compound. I as
