Malakai’s hands moved more slowly.
We are not ready for war.
Dax looked directly at him.
“Then we prepare before readiness becomes irrelevant. Norse is the child named in the prophecy, and anyone who wants him dead will have to come through the entire brotherhood first.”
For the first time since entering, Rhen moved.
The shift was slight, consisting only of a slow adjustment of his shoulders and a small lift of his chin, yet it reminded every male in the room that he had been listening.
Firelight sharpened his profile.
“You reached all of that,” Rhen said, “from a conversation with a security guard.”
Dax met his gaze without flinching.
“I confirmed that the stronghold is being watched, the story of Leena’s death is being shaped, Marcella’s name is circulating, and X’s absence is being exploited. I do not need a signed confession to understand what that means.”
Cole turned toward Rhen.
“What are you doing about it?”
Rhen’s gaze shifted to him.
“I am listening.”
Cole gave a harsh laugh.
“Then listen harder. The rest of us are trying to keep this house standing.”
The room cooled beneath the force of Rhen’s restraint.
His jaw tightened once, but he did not shout or rise. The violence remained contained inside him, already considered and rejected only by discipline.
Malakai stepped between the lines of their sight and signed,Fighting each other will not protect Norse.
Cole looked away first.
Before he could answer, a controlled but urgent knock sounded against the door.
Rhen showed no surprise.
He rose, and the chair legs scraped quietly across the stone. The room seemed to contract around his movement, as though his presence had been holding the walls apart.
Dax watched him cross toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
Rhen did not hurry or look back.
He paused with one hand against the handle.
“Continue talking,” he said. “Try not to fall apart while I am gone.”
Then he opened the door and disappeared into the corridor, leaving the brothers with the threat gathering outside the stronghold and the fractures widening within it.
Chapter 18
