<b>CHAPTER </b><b>84 </b>


    led sat with his fingers steepled, elbows resting on the edge of the table, his gaze unfocused for a breath before settling back into the room. The anayed sunlight through the office window caught on the faint lines under his eyes–evidence of long hours, sleepless worry. When he finally spoke, the cabo in 13. voice didn’t fool Saphira. She could feel the thread pulled tant beneath it.


    “There’s been unusual activity around the site,” he said. “A lot of visitors more than we expected. They didn’t know we’d be observing, but the lead of security they’ve put in ce says everything. It’s not there to protect what’s inside it’s to hide what they’re nning.”


    Saphira’s brow furrowed. Her hand drifted toward the table, fingers tapping once–deliberate, thoughtful. That kind of secrecy always meant danger, alwa meant someone was afraid of being exposed. Her gut coiled with unease.


    Niks sat beside her, silent but still. She could feel the tension building in his frame–the slight shift in his shoulders, the way his knee brushed against hers beneath the table, steady like a metronome. She didn’t look at him yet, but she felt his attention narrowing, sharpening.


    Raven leaned back in her chair with a soft sigh, her boot tappingzily against the leg of the table. “I swear I saw the robes,” she said. “Long. White, The kind the Elders wear when they want you to know who they are without saying a damn word. It was a sh–someone between the cars–but it was there.


    The word Elders stirred something darker in Saphira’s chest. She nced instinctively at Niks then, catching the tight flicker in his jaw as his eyes narrowed.


    “If you couldn’t get close,” he said, voice even but edged, “what exactly did you find?” His tone was measured, but the underlying thread was clear–don’t give me shadows, give me shape. “We can’t act on guesses.”


    Across the table, Jasper let out a quiet hum of amusement. He’d been lounging against the arm of his chair<b>, </b>half detached from the conversation, but now leaned forward, fingersced casually over the wood.


    “Which is why I didn’t rely on guesses<b>,</b>” he said, a <b>smug </b>grin flickering at the corner of his mouth.


    Saphira’s attention snapped to him. Her spine straightened slightly, curiosity ring.


    “I brought a recording device,” Jasper said, eyes gleaming. “Got in close<b>. </b>Slipped it along the treeline near where the cars were heading. It’s got audio and visual feeds. And I was quick–too quick for their warriors to notice<b>.</b><b>” </b>


    Saphira’s lips parted slightly–surprised, then impressed. That’s smart, she thought, her gaze narrowing in quiet <b>respect</b>. Tactical. Risky. But clever.


    Jed nodded. “It’s been live since we left. If there’s anything to hear–or see–it’ll be on that recording.”


    Niks turned his head then, locking eyes with her. The weight in his look said everything. This wasn’t noise. This was the first thread in a much bigger unravelling.


    Saphira’s heart beat a little harder, her hand drifting subtly toward Niks’s beneath the table–close enough to brush knuckles. This was no longer spection.


    The quiet hum of tension filled the room, thickening the air around them. Saphira leaned forward slightly, elbows brushing the table’s polished grain, the pads of her fingers trailing idle patterns as she pinned Jed with a narrowed look,


    “I thought you said we had proof,” she said, her voice low but edged with tempered impatience. actually use <b>yet</b>.”


    far


    it


    sounds like a setup for it–not something <b>we </b>can


    Beside her, Niks didn’t move at first, but she felt it–the slight shift in his posture, <b>the </b>way his knee nudged gently against hers in silent solidarity. He didn’t interrupt her, didn’t need to. She wasn’t beingbative<b>. </b>Just blunt. Direct. The clock was ticking, and they’d danced in the dark <b>long </b>enough.


    Across the table, Raven unfolded her arms and leaned back with a long creak of leather and wood, one boot hookingzily over the other. “We came back because of what we’d already caught,” she said, mouth quirking. “Just before we left the site. You’re about to <b>see </b>why.”


    Jasper, annoyingly pleased with himself, dug his phone out with a deliberate slowness, as if savouring the moment. “The quality’s <b>not </b>perfect,” he muttered, tapping the screen. “But just… watch.”


    Saphira leaned closer unconsciously, the heat of Niks’s shoulder brushing hers as they both shifted to see.


    <b>1/3 </b>


    <b>CHAPTER </b>84


    <b>The </b>video flickered to lite–<b>grainy</b>, dosk, framed images of a treline. <b>Then </b>movemant fizours between branihet, silhes dna dute first, they were nothing more than shadowshot then, the fick of white.


    Fabric. Flowing. Rebrs.


    Her breath caught.


    <b>“</b>Elders,” she murmured, eyes narrowing as she watched the shape glide into view.


    Niks’s hand rested lightly on the table beside hers, his fingers brushing hers in a feather–fight past. She didn’t look at him, not yet but the presence, grounded her.


    Jasper nodded once. “Two of them, we think. Separate arrivals. No markings. Just those robes.”


    Saphira straightened, then turned her gaze on Raven with a brow raised, “You said you thought it was Elders,” she said slowly. “But this. <i>this </i>a confirmation.”


    Raven’s grin curled without hesitation. “Oh, I knew what I saw. But Jasper insisted we wait for the dramatic reveal She gave him a sideways w that hold more amusement than reproach. “Said it would nd better<b>.</b>“”


    “Which it did,” Jasper replied, unapologetically smug.


    Raven scoffed, then gestured to the screen. “I wasn’t guessing. That white? You don’t forget it. I just didn’t want to throw certainty around without something solid.”


    Saphira gave a small nod, then turned her focus back to the screen. The robes weren’t just clothing. They were power. Rank. The kind of presence that didint need to announce itself to control the room<b>. </b>


    Then the footage shifted–more figures emerging. Broader builds. Three men in dark <b>suits </b>stepped into frame.


    Her breath hitched slightly.


    The way they moved–controlled, calcting. The quiet efficiency of how one of them <b>surveyed </b>the surrounding area like he was assessing threat range or making a mental map.


    She knew that posture. Not intimately–but well enough.


    Matchmaker. Not the handlers. The ones above them. The men who walked behind reinforced doors and spoke in hushed tones<b>. </b>


    Her pulse stumbled.


    She turned slightly, catching Niks’s gaze across the table–and he was already watching her. His brow knit just slightly, like he’d seen the same thing she had. Her stomach dipped, but she nodded faintly, jaw tightening. They knew.


    Without a word, Jasper tapped another file. “Now for the real gem,” he said.


    The screen went ck–then audio crackled to life.


    And Saphira leaned forward again, pulse climbing.


    Now it wasn’t just shadows. Now they would hear them n.