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My gaze shot back to him faster than I would have liked. "You would do that?"

"You saved Lael," he said simply. "Consider it a debt repaid."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Urkin's officefelt smaller with all of us crowded inside. The other initiates and I stood before his obsidian desk while the rest of the Spectre unit lined the walls. Maps covered every surface, their edges curling from constant handling, while reports lay scattered across his desk, unreadable from where I stood.

"Three days," Urkin said, his voice tight with carefully controlled anger. "Three days since Valkan disappeared, and not a single noble house has heard from him." His fingers drummed against a letter bearing the Skaldvindr seal. "Though some have made their positions quite clear."

He turned his attention to me then, his expression shifting into something less hostile, though no warmer. "And we've managed to find a true Duskbound. The first in centuries to be born of common blood." The words seemed stilted. "And to a foreign-born, no less." I could almost catch the lingering disdain in his tone. He sighed, as if to calm himself. "Your emergence from the Void was... impressive."

The compliment felt strange coming from him, especially givenour previous interactions. But before I could respond, he was already moving on.

"The Skaldvindrs withdrew their support the moment he fled," Effie offered. "The others followed within hours."

"Like rats abandoning a sinking ship," Vexa muttered from her place near the wall.

"And what of his men?" Urkin's eyes swept over our group. "Any sightings?"

"None," Aether said. "They vanished with him."

"Probably still crawling back to Draxon," Theron threw in.

"He's lost the support of the Council, but don't underestimate the will of his subjects. This is still a tense situation. And I would believe the events that happened outside the Void have only stoked his anger further."

The implications of that hung heavy in the air. My stomach turned at the memory of those milky eyes, that unnatural grace.

"What about Kenna?" Mira asked. "Will there be consequences for what he did to her?"

The room went deathly still. Urkin's face twisted with disgust, but when he spoke, his voice was measured.

"Without proof, there's nothing we can do."

"Nothing?" My voice came out like a blade. "He emerged from the Void with blood on his mouth, and Kenna never came out. What more proof do you need?"

"Careful," Urkin's tone dropped dangerously low. "You don't understand the delicacy of this situation."

"Then explain it to me."

Several of the Spectres shifted uncomfortably. But Urkin just stared at me, his jaw working as if physically restraining himself.

"We are trying," he finally ground out, "to prevent a civil war. Valkan's influence runs deeper than you know. His followers are fanatics. One accusation—onehintof persecution—and half the realm would rise up." He stood, palms flat against his desk. "Is thatwhat you want? More death? More chaos? While Sídhe continues to drain what little essence we have left?"

The mention of Sídhe sparked something in his eyes. "Speaking of which," he straightened, switching topics with practiced efficiency, "it's been nearly two months since our last mission. The drought spreads while we sit here debating politics."

"Actually," I stepped forward, seizing the opening. "I've been thinking about that. What if I could speak with the leadership within the Guard? Try to make them understand?—"

A harsh laugh cut me off. "Make them understand?" Urkin's voice dripped with mockery. "You think you can just walk up to the border and have a friendly chat about how they're draining us?"

"You don't understand. The masses in the Guard don't even know that you're people. They're told you're monsters filtering in from another world, bound and determined to destroy the arcanite stores and send the realm into a death age."

"Poetic," Vexa grumbled.

Urkin paced behind his desk. "That matters little to me. Our soldiers stay in their spectre-forms to protect themselves. Revealing what they truly are will only leave them vulnerable. More will die."

"You're just helping Sídhe's lies then," I said and I thought Urkin's eyes might explode from his head.

"I've served this realm for thirty years. Do not think, for one second, little girl, that you can come in here and command me. That you have any idea how to wage war."