Reed had always known everything.
Or, at least, he thought he did.
But that night, as he opened Klik's secret report and read the chronology of Arven's infiltration of Elias's body—how Rina had infiltrated his mind, how Arven had nearly made the body his own forever—for the first time in a long time, Reed sat down.
Not out of exhaustion. But out of disappointment.
Not in anyone else. In himself.
In the Tactics Room at Midnight
Reed, Shia, and Myra sat in a triangle formation.
Klik stood off to the side, nervous. Rina was absent. Still recovering.
On the table: new maps. But this time not of an external enemy.
Instead, a reconstruction of Arven's footprint from within.
Reed put a finger on the red dot representing the rune workshop.
"How many days did he survive in the city?"
Klik answered, quietly. "Fourteen."
Shia narrowed her eyes. "And none of us know."
Myra stared straight ahead. "Rina knew. And she acted."
Shia glanced at Reed.
"Why didn't Rina report it?"
