LENA
The SUV was silent as we pulled away from the Council's gates, the tension hanging thick like fog in the cabin. No one spoke. We were too full—of decisions made behind closed doors, of threats veiled in polished words, of the unspoken weight Dom now carried on his shoulders.
I pressed my palm to the window, watching trees blur past in gray and green. My skin still buzzed from the pressure inside that chamber. They had looked at me like I was a problem to solve. A weapon to assess. And Dom... they looked at him like a threat.
I could feel his energy beside me, taut and unreadable. His hand rested on his thigh, curled into a quiet fist. It was Lucas who finally broke the silence.
"Well, that was fun," he muttered from the driver's seat, sarcasm barely masking the grim edge in his voice. "Just your average political gathering of smug bastards trying to decide if we're useful or disposable."
"No one said disposable," Sienna replied, but her voice lacked conviction.
