The blue garden held for one more breath. Then my slate buzzed once against my hip, a quiet but insistent summons back to the war. 'North: anomaly on your ring.'
Rose's fingers tightened on my arm. "Already?"
"They're testing the leash," I said. "Let's get back."
We stepped out of the greenhouse and straight into Ouroboros ops. The quiet intimacy of the garden was replaced by the low hum of reality anchors and the smell of ozone and hot tea. Cecilia stood before the main map of the world, which was now dotted with dozens of red pins.
"We cut the spine," she said without preamble. "Now we break the legs." She tapped a satellite image showing a desolate canyon. "Evelyn's last spell left a thread. It points here. A pocket city, anchored by a fissure. The Order never disbanded. They just hid sideways."
Vyr, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade, nodded sharply. "My teams are prepped. We can hold the breach or push through on your mark."
