Chapter 72 - Inward

By the time Ian asked all of us to gather in the war chamber, I already knew something was wrong because he had that tight look around his eyes, the one he gets when his brain has run too far ahead of his body and dragged the rest of us with it whether we agreed or not. The room smelled like oil lamps and old parchment, and the long circular table was cluttered with maps we were not using and weapons we were pretending would solve problems that were clearly not made of steel. I took my usual place near the center, not because I enjoyed being the anchor of everything but because the bond naturally pulled toward me, and when I settled into the chair I could feel the faint hum of it beneath my skin, restless and alert like it already sensed we were about to disturb it on purpose.