Chapter 128

Simon's POV The morning after the celebration came with a silence that did not belong to peace. It was the silence of preparation. Even before the sun had climbed over the neutral city, I stood on the balcony of the hospital wing, watching the mist curl around the training grounds below. My body ached from the last battle, my ribs still sore, but my thoughts were sharper than ever. The initial victory had bought us breathing room, nothing more. Brayden and the vampire lord had retreated, but they were not defeated. If we waited, they would strike again, and next time they would strike harder. That was why there could be no waiting. I left the balcony and went straight to the strategy hall that had been set up on the hospital's lower floor. Thomas and my lieutenants were already there, maps spread across the table, pins marking contested lands. Every line on that parchment was soaked in blood, every inch of territory a wound that would not close until this war ended. "We move in two day