Celeste’s breathing changes beside me. Through the bond, grief hits so hard my vision blurs.
I put my hand on the back of her neck. She leans into it. One second. Two. Then she straightens and walks.
Seraphina findsme in the garden.
I’m on the bench beneath the oaks. The compound is quiet. Celeste is still in the medical wing.
Seraphina sits beside me.
“Julian intercepted something during the meeting,” she says. “Witch signatures probing the Midtown distribution center. Adrienne’s work. I recognized the pattern from the scrying attempts on the compound.”
“She’s mapping it.”
“She’s building a key. The same technique she used before your compound wards were reinforced. She maps the frequencies, builds a counter-resonance, and creates an entry point. If she finishes, Konstantin can hit your clean blood supply whenever he chooses.”
“How long?”
“Days. Less if she’s been working longer than I think.”
Our distribution center in Midtown is the hub Sullivan uses to source and coordinate blood supply for the territory. If Konstantin hits it, our allies lose access to the supply chain we’ve been building as an alternative to his.
“There’s more,” Seraphina says.
I wait.
“I felt something underneath her work tonight. During the probe. A binding. Blood oath. Adrienne isn’t working for Konstantin freely.”
“How can you tell?”
“The magic carries it. A blood oath leaves a signature in every spell the bound witch casts. Hers is fractured. Something is being held from her. Someone she can’t reach.”
“Someone.”
“I reached out through the old coven channels after I felt it. Two sources confirmed. Adrienne has a daughter. Konstantin has her.”
I sit with that.
“Free the daughter,” I say.
“And the oath dissolves.” Seraphina’s mouth tightens. “I’ve suspected since Konstantin’s network started running witchsignatures. I’ve known since tonight. I’m telling you now because the war council is tomorrow night and I’d rather you carry it before everyone else does.”
“Celeste.”
“She’ll hear it from me at the council. With everyone else. She’s earned the right to operate on full information. So have you.”
Seraphina stands. She walks back toward the compound without waiting for me to respond.
I stay in the garden. The bench is cool beneath me. The night air carries the smell of oak and stone.
Adrienne has a daughter. Konstantin is holding her to keep Adrienne working. And Adrienne is the one building the key to our distribution center.
Free the daughter. Turn the witch. Break the key.
I stand. I walk back inside.
I setthe pen down to read back what I’ve written on the war council agenda. The pen lifts off the paper.
I didn’t touch it. I didn’t think about touching it. My hand is flat on the desk, my shadows are still beneath my skin, and the pen is floating two inches above the page, rotating slowly in the air of a room where nothing should be moving.
