CHAPTER 66: NOCTURNE INVITATION
CALEB'S POV
The heavy, black iron seal of the Nocturne Dominion sat on the center of the council table, looking less like a piece of diplomatic correspondence and entirely like a dormant explosive waiting to tear our remaining defenses to shreds.
The formal invitation had arrived at the outer security perimeter under a flag of truce that smelled heavily of dried nightshade and ancient, stagnant blood. It had been delivered by a thrall whose eyes were completely hollowed out by compulsion, a walking corpse that dropped the scroll and collapsed into ash before our sentries could even draw their weapons.
I stared down at the thick, dark parchment, my teeth grinding together so hard a sharp ache radiated all the way up into my temples. Every single line written in that elegant, flowing script felt like a deliberate, mocking insult to my authority as Alpha.
