Chapter 415: Truths That Refuse to Stay Buried
The council hall felt colder than the snow outside, even though it was a warm space most times.
Eldric stood at its center, hands folded neatly behind his back, shoulders squared in a posture that mimicked calm even as his pulse hammered violently beneath his ribs. The chamber echoed faintly with every breath, every shift of weight, every subtle movement from the council members seated in their semicircle of carved chairs.
He should have known better.
Coming out into the compound like that. Letting Daniel catch him.
Risk layered upon reckless impulse, but that didn't matter now.
The image burned relentlessly behind his eyes — the cave walls, the shadowed chains, the beast's molten stare fixed on her fragile silhouette. The vision refused to loosen its grip no matter how many times he blinked or how tightly he clenched his jaw.
