Chapter 158

• Ian’s POV
• I stood in the center of the council room, staring down at the cold, lifeless body before me. My heart clenched in my chest as I tried to process what I was seeing. Another one. Another council member, dead.
• The smell of blood still hung in the air, thick and metallic. Even after all these centuries, I still hated that smell. Hated what it signified. This wasn’t the work of some random enemy. This was calculated, deliberate. Someone was targeting my council members, and they were slipping through our defenses as if we had none.