Chapter 319

DEREK’S POV The hall felt too small — too suffocating — for what had just happened. The scent of blood still lingered on Aurelia’s clothes, metallic and cold, mixing with her fear. Kael had seated her on the couch beside my desk, holding her hand like she was a glass figurine that might shatter at the slightest touch. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, unfocused, lips pressed together in silent tremor. Micah stood across from me, relaxed as ever, arms crossed and an unreadable smirk playing at the corner of his mouth — as if this was all one long, inconvenient conversation instead of the aftermath of something far worse. “Tell me everything,” I said, my voice cutting through the quiet like steel. “And don’t you dare leave out a single detail.” Micah’s golden eyes flicked between me and Aurelia, pausing a heartbeat longer on her before he finally began. “I was tracking the outer ridge, like you ordered,” he said casually. “Heard a shift in the air. Heavy vibrations — coming from the east