Eli's testimony began with a bottle. Not poison. Not Camille. A bottle. That distinction mattered.

We moved from the records chamber to a smaller room across the hall. Marin sat at the table with a neutral recorder from Northlake. Isolde stayed behind me. Lucian did no

By the time I entered Blackthorn's great hall that afternoon, Elder Alaric was already standing in the place where I had once been accused. He had aged less than I wanted him to.

Same iron-gray hair. Same narrow mouth. Same expression of patient disappointment, as if e

Lucian did not sit down after saying he was wrong. The panel chair let the silence stay long enough to become uncomfortable. Then she asked, "What did choosing the pack mean in practical terms?"

Lucian looked at her.

"It meant I knew the evidence against Evelyn w