Aidan POV
The room was silent—no, it was suffocating.
The knife had sliced through the air with such precise force that the wind from its movement had stirred the loose strands of Kieran’s dark hair. A heartbeat later, it embedded itself into the wooden panel behind him with a sharp thunk—so close that it nicked his ear. A thin trickle of blood rolled down, but the wound was already sealing itself.
Kieran sat frozen, his chest rising and falling in a slow, controlled manner. But I knew him too well—knew that beneath that impassive mask, his heart was hammering. I could see it in the way his fingers curled against his lap, in the barely-there twitch of his jaw.
He had not expected that.
None of them had.
I dragged my gaze away from Kieran and turned toward the rest of the council. El
