They didn't move for a while after Karl's laughter faded. His words still hung in the air, bitter and sharp, like smoke that refused to clear.
Lucian stood near the door, his shadow stretched thin against the pale lights of the room. Nobody spoke. Not until Reia finally snapped her notebook shut and looked up at him.
"You can't be serious," she said, voice low but sharp. "Gate raiding? Going through to their world? That's suicide."
Lucian's eyes slid her way, calm as always. "It's necessary."
Evelyn leaned forward in her chair, arms crossed. "Necessary? No. Insane, yes. They come here because we're forced to fight on our turf. That's already bad enough. You want to go where they're strongest?"
