bCHAPTER /bb86 /b

    The silence settled like ash–soft but suffocating. The kind that filled the lungs and left something heavy behind. Saptara sat rigid in her chair crossel over the other so tightly her thigh had begun to ache, but she didn’t shift. Her arms folded acros her riba like a brace–like if the to do the curling inside her chest might spill out through her fingertips.

    Her stare fixed on the far wall, but she didn’t see it. Not really. Her mind was reying every voice, every calcted word. She felt Niks beside her dis presence a low, steady hum–but he didn’t speak. Didn’t reach. He just waited, quiet and still like stone.

    Then–Jasper’s throat–cleating shattered the stillnessb, /bjust a little too sharp in the hush

    “There’s… onest thing,” he said, far too pleased with himself for Saphira’s taste.

    She blinked, her eyes sharpening as she slowly turned to look at him. Her jaw flexed once. “What else could there possibly be?” she asked, her voice like polished ss–cool, precise, ready to cut.

    From across the table, Raven exhaled and leaned back with a creak of leather, her arms folding loosely. “Just wait, she said, and for once, her tonecked flippancy. It made Saphira pause.

    Jasper tapped his screen.

    This time, the voices came in clearer. Clean enough that they might’ve been standing in the room.

    “…Once the Elder pack is secured,” said that same cold,posed voice, “we’ll bring the Matchmaker fully under ourmand.”

    Saphira went still. Completely. Her spine straightened, and her breath caught in her throat like a snareb. /bThe Matchmaker. Again.

    They’re touching that ce?

    Her pulse began to roar beneath her skin.

    “The infrastructure is already in ce,” the Elder continued. “The staff believe they answer to tradition. Soonb, /bthey’ll answer only to bus/bb./bb” /b

    Beside her, Niks shifted. Barely. But she felt it–the gathering tension, his entire frame sharpening beside hers. His elbow brushed hers. Warm. Anchoring.

    “And then,” said her former Alpha–that bvoice /bagain, smug and venomous-“y

    “you’ll begin the purgeb?/bb” /b

    “Yes,” the Elder confirmed. “The crossb–/bspecies packs are the disease. We’ll use the Matchmaker to eliminate them. Quietly. Efficiently. They’ll bnever /bbsee /biting.”

    Saphira’s stomach twisted hard. She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth, fighting the rise bof /bnausea. The Matchmaker bwasn’t /bjust bexile /bnow. It was execution. A tool twisted into silence.

    “And when we’re done,” the Elder finished, “the world

    Saphira closed her beyes/b.

    be as it was meant to be. Pure. Untaintedb./bb” /b

    Every instinct screamed. Every memory of white walls, forced stillness, flickering corridors–came mming back. That ce had stolen years from her. And

    now they were going to weaponize it against everyone else like her. People who didn’t fit their script.

    A hand brushed lightly against hers.

    Niks.

    She felt the brush of his fingers, gentle, patient–and this time, she turned her palm andced her hand into his. She bgripped /bbit/b–not L… but firmb. /bbSteady/b.

    Her anchor.

    He didn’t speak. But he shifted closer. She felt it in bthe /bway his thigh touched hers now, in the low flex of his jaw when bhe /bexhaled slowly bthrough /bbhis /bbnose/b,

    That was all she needed.

    bCHAPTER /bb86 /b

    bThe /bbworld /bwasn’t just broken. It was rigged. bAnd /bshe would burn bit /bbefore she let them bcarve /bthe bword /bb“/bpure” into it spate,

    bThis /bwasn’t just survival anymore.

    bThis /bwas war.

    The silence after the final recording settled like a stone at the bottom of ake–heavy, unmoving, final. Saphira sat forward bin /bher chair, bfingers /bced iand /iknuckles pale against the wood. Her jaw worked once, barely, before she spoke, voice low but resolute.

    “We’ll be one of the first,” she said. “Or thest. A fully mixed pack?” Her eyes swept across the others. “We’re either the threat they deal with first..: of the mistake they’ll regret leaving until the end.”

    bBeside /bher, Niks leaned back slightly, his arm brushing hers. The corner of his mouth curved–not into amusement, but into something bsharp/b. Ready

    “Let themeb,/bb” /bhe said. “Now we know their secretb, /bwe don’t fight blind. We n. We strike.”

    bHe /bturned his attention to the others, gaze flicking between them like a live wire. “What do you thinkb?/bb” /b

    Raven didn’t beven /bhesitate. She shoved herself upright, one boot thunking against the floor. “I think they need to be stoppedb,/bb” /bshe said. “They’re ying bgod /bwith people’s lives. That ends.”

    Jasper tipped back in his chair, arms folded loosely, but his expression for once was serious. “Agreed. If they use the Matchmaker like they intend bto/bb, /bbwe /bwon’t even bsee /bhalf the damage until it’s toote.b” /b

    Jed nodded, face drawn. “It has to be before they take full controlb,/bb” /bhe said. “bOnce /bbthey’re /binside the Matchmaker’smand bstructure/bb, /bbit’ll /bbe near impossible to track who’s being sent where–or why.”

    Niks exhaled, the sound like a warning hum in his chest. “Then we stop it before the next phase begins.b” /b

    Saphira shifted slightly, her voice quieter now but no less intent. “Did you hear anything about Damonb?/bb” /bHer beyes /bflicked to beach /bbface/bb, /bsearching.

    Jasper frowned, shaking his head. “Nothing. His name didn’te up.” But then he added, tapping his phone. “The device bis /bstill active–still recording. If they meet again or talk in the same ceb, /bbwe’ll /bcatch it. I’ll keep checking.”

    Saphira gave a tight nod, disappointment tempered by hope. Damon had to be out there. Somewhere.

    Niks leaned forward again, pressing both hands to the table. “We can’t make this call alone. We bring in the others. Share what we’ve heard. And bwe /bbput /ba n together.”

    One by one, heads nodded. No protest. No pause.

    This wasn’t just about defending themselves anymore.

    It was the beginning of a resistance. And Saphira–fire steady in her bonesb–/bwould stand at the centre of it.

    The tension in the office hadn’t lifted, not really, but the recording had ended and the shape of the future was beginning to harden into something clear- and unrelenting.

    Niks rested both palms on the table, the lines of his shoulders taut butposed. “We’ll call a meeting,” he said, bvoice /blow, decisive. In a couple of bdays/b. I want to wait–see if that recorder picks up anything else before we moveb./bb” /b

    The others nodded, already rising from their seatsb, /bmovements slower now, heavier.

    “I’ll send out my best scouts in the meantime,” Niks continued. “Eyes and ears open. If witches or vampires are being pulled binto /bbthis/b, I bwant /bto know which packs they’re using. And why they’re following.”

    Raven made a thoughtful sound in her throat and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. “If anything bes /bbthrough /bbthe /bbwhisper /bbroutes/bb, /bbI’ll /bbget /bbit /bbto /byou fast,” she said. bJasper /bfollowed with azy salute and a muttered “On it.”

    Jed lingered a moment, his gaze flicking to Saphira with something between admiration and concern, bthen /bnodded bto /bbNiks /bband /bbstepped /bbout /bbbehind /bbthe /b

    othersb. /b

    213

    bCHAPTER /bb86 /b

    bAnd /bbjust /blike bthat/bb, /bbthe /broom was bquiet /bbagain/bb. /b

    bChapter /bbComments /b