The house felt different once the council stepped inside.
Smaller.
Colder.
Like old power had crossed the threshold and expected the walls to bow.
They didn’t.
That was the first useful thing I noticed.
Kade closed the door behind the last Elder with quiet finality, sealing the crowd, Liam, and Selene outside. The silence that followed was heavy enough to taste. Mara stood near the archway to the kitchen, arms folded, expression sharpened into pure disapproval. The silver-haired Elder remained composed. Darius looked irritated that the world had not arranged itself more conveniently for him. The other two male Elders said nothing, which somehow made them feel worse.
I stood in the center of Kade’s foyer with my pulse still racing and my pride hanging on by fury alone.
Kade took up
