Henry’s Pov
Silence fell, thick as iron. Elijah paled, Liam’s jaw tightened, and I felt a knot of relief and fear twist inside me. Leila was truly still ours, but if Sebastian sensed this…
Elijah spoke first, voice strained. “We must keep this secret, for now. We can’t risk telling anyone else until we know for sure. If Sebastian learns we can still bond with her, he’ll tighten his watch. He’ll guard her even more closely.”
I nodded. “We also need a plan. We need to find her without alerting Sebastian.”
Liam nodded, relief and pain mingling in his eyes. He turned back to the map. “That’s why I called this meeting. We need to break Sebastian’s hold over her.”
I knelt beside him, studying the map. “Where would you start?” I asked.
Liam pointed to a narrow pass in the mountains, a route
