"CONFIDENCE. HOW REFRESHING."
Mailah met each of their eyes in turn, feeling the weight of their power, the danger they represented.
"Because," Mailah said quietly, her voice steadier than she felt, "Grayson and I have already survived the impossible. That's not naivety. That's knowledge."
The three Council representatives exchanged glances—communication rippling between them on frequencies Mailah couldn't perceive but could somehow feel, like pressure changes before a storm.
The ice woman reached out, and Mailah forced herself not to flinch.
"We need to verify one thing," she said. "This will be... intrusive. Do you consent?"
Mailah thought of Grayson waiting at the venue, probably pacing, definitely anxious. She thought of how far they'd come, how much they'd risked.
"Yes," she said.
The ice woman's finger touched Mailah's forehead—a point of cold so intense it burned.
The world fractured.
