Kael’s POV
I didn’t wait for permission to leave.
The moment the silence in that room shifted from authority to calculation, I turned and pulled her with me. Not slowly. Not carefully.
Decisively.
Because staying any longer would have given them time to act.
And I wasn’t giving them that.
Elara didn’t resist.
That was the first thing I noticed.
No hesitation.
No argument.
Just movement.
Fast enough to match mine, even as the tension from the chamber still clung to her. The bond pulsed steadily between us, not sharp this time, but heavy.
Aware.
The corridor outside felt colder.
Not physically.
But in the way spaces do after decisions have been made inside them.
“They were serious,” she said.
Her voice was quieter now.
Not shaken.
But thinking.
Too much.
“Yes.”
I didn’t
