~Caleb~
"Stone," he said coldly. "Your absence at this morning's emergency session is yet another dereliction of duty."
I straightened to my full height, meeting his gaze steadily. "I've been attending to security matters that couldn't wait, Elder Thorne."
"More important than answering for your actions during the Blood Moon?" Thorne's lip curled slightly. "Your father would never have abandoned the Hunt. Gregory Stone understood tradition, respected our ways."
Something snapped inside me—a thread of patience I'd been clinging to for too long.
"My father is dead," I said flatly. "And I'm beginning to wonder if the circumstances of his death deserve closer examination, particularly in light of his connection to Helen Winters' disappearance."
Thorne's composure slipped for a fraction o
