CHAPTER 26:
Timeline: 3 Weeks After the Twin Crown
The letter arrived at dawn—no stamp, no postmark, just a single black envelope placed dead-center on the kitchen table, sealed with the High Council’s jagged crest, the wax still warm as if whoever left it had been standing in the room only moments before. I stared at it for a long time, my hand hovering over the wood, already knowing what it contained, already feeling the weight of it settle heavy in my bones. When I broke the seal and unfolded the single sheet inside, the message was short, brutal, and impossible to miss, written in ink so dark it looked like dried blood:
You have defied the natural order. The Twin Crown is an abomination that was never meant to exist. Surrender Kael and the girl in seven days, or every pack within th
