Chapter 80

Chapter 80 Seraphina's POV The battlefield was quiet in the way a predator is quiet—only because it was waiting to strike. I stood atop the ridge overlooking Black Hollow, where Cassian’s main forces had begun to gather. From this height, I could see the tents sprawled like a disease across the valley, black and red banners fluttering in the wind. Kaelos stood beside me, arms crossed. His eyes scanned the horizon with practiced precision. "How many?" I asked. He didn’t look at me as he answered. "Too many for a straight assault. Not enough to frighten us." I nodded slowly. "He’s bluffing again. He wants us to think we can’t hold the line." "Or he wants us to strike first and stretch ourselves thin." Behind us, Callista grunted. "Either way, we need to be smarter. Not louder." She was right. That was the only reason we’d made it this far. Cassian was bold, brutal, and manipulative. But he underestimated one thing—how much I’d learned from him. And how far I was willing to go to end him.