Three months of relative peace that felt more like the calm before a hurricane.
My hand rested on my belly—no longer flat, but rounded with obvious pregnancy.
The baby was active, kicking regularly, reminding me every moment that I was carrying not just my child, but the Cult's ultimate target.
"You're brooding again," Kael's voice came from behind me.
"I'm thinking strategically."
"You're worrying obsessively. There's a difference." He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his hands covering mine on my stomach. "The baby's fine. You're fine. We're all fine."
"For now."
"For now is all we ever have."
He was right, as usual.
But that didn't make the waiting easier.
Three months of peace.
It was wrong. All wrong.
Enemies didn't just disappear.
They planned.
They prepared. Th
