POV: Nixie
The silence didn’t last.
It never does after power shifts.
The chamber exhaled first, stone sighing as if it had been holding its breath for centuries. Then came a deeper sound beneath it, low and resonant, vibrating through my boots and into my bones.
Lyall felt it too.
I knew because his hand tightened against my back, not in panic, but in instinctive readiness. It was as if he was positioning himself between me and whatever was next.
The Echo stirred.
Not violently. Not urgently.
Aware.
“They felt that,” I murmured.
The man nodded grimly. “Every ward within five territories would have registered the surge.”
“Which means the Council knows,” Lyall said flatly.
“And anyone hunting what you carry,” the man added, glancing at me. “Including those who don’t believe you
