She reached over, smoothing a hand gently over Takoda's hair, her touch steady and reassuring. "He will," she said quietly. Not rushed. Not uncertain. Just true.
And in that moment, beneath the soft kitchen lights of the Nightshade estate, with the city's restless night pressing against the windows, something small and profound began to take root, fragile as new moonlight, yet strong enough to weather the storms still gathering on the horizon.
The corridor still hummed with the low, controlled energy of recent orders when Marcus felt it, that subtle but unmistakable shift in the air, like the first tremor before a storm broke over the city skyline. He turned instinctively, his posture straightening a fraction as Kade stepped into view from the far end of the hallway, his presence cutting cleanly through the measured movements of the guards like a blade through silk. For a brief second, Marcus's expression betrayed something rare: surprise.
