Nobody moved for a long moment after Thorne said it, the whole hall suspended in the particular quiet that follows a confession too large to respond to immediately. I felt Kael's hand still gripping mine, steady even now, and I understood that whatever came next, we were going to face it the same way we'd faced everything since I crossed back over that border, together, deliberately, without either of us pretending the cost wasn't real.
"If you're willing to help," Marcus said, breaking the silence, his voice carrying none of its usual command, only something quieter, more careful, "then I think this pack deserves to hear the rest of what you know. Not just what happened to your parents. What you've learned since. Twenty-six years is a long time to watch and wait, Edmund. I don't believe
