They didn’t sit, but they stopped.For now.
Brielle stood in the middle, her hands trembling even as her voice stayed steady.“You need to breathe, Landon.We’ll talk when you’re calm.Not before.”
He held her gaze for a long, tense moment, chest heaving, then nodded stiffly.“Fine.But I’m not going anywhere.”
Hunter and Lennox exchanged wary looks, still coiled tight, ready to move if he so much as flinched.
Nolan exhaled.“Well, this escalated fast.”
“Yeah, you think?”Brielle said, the sarcasm practically dripping from her tone.
The room stayed quiet, every breath measured, every muscle tight.Landon’s eyes burned gold now, the lion barely leashed.Hunter shifted his stance, body angled protectively in front of Brielle, while Lennox’s pulse thundered so loud it filled the air.
“Last warning,” Hunter said, his voice a growl wrapped in steel.“You need to walk out of here before you make a mistake you can’t take back.”
Landon’s lips curled, not in mockery but in something heartbreakingly raw.“It’s already too late for that.”
Chapter Nine
The air inside FatedInk was thick with tension.Hunter and Lennox stood toe-to-toe with Landon, their voices low but sharp, while Nolan and Isaac hovered between them, trying and failing to keep the peace.The faint scent of ozone from Ursula’s wards lingered, a warning waiting to be triggered if anyone pushed too far.
“Enough,” Nolan said, hands outstretched.“This isn’t the station house.You three want to throw down, do it outside.”
Hunter’s jaw clenched.“He’s crossing a line, Nolan.”
Landon’s lip curled.“You’re the one acting like you own her.”
Brielle stood back, heart pounding, caught between them all.The air buzzed with male aggression, but what drew her attention wasn’t the shouting—it was Ursula.The older witch sat in her usual chair near the window, her tea long cold, her eyes distant and shadowed.The faint shimmer of pain rippled through her aura, something old and deep.
Brielle stepped away from the argument and crossed the room.“Hey,” she said softly, crouching beside her.“You okay?”
Ursula smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes.“My dear, I’ve lived too long to be surprised by fate anymore.But sometimes I think she’s got a cruel sense of humor.”
“What do you mean?”
Ursula looked down at her trembling hands.“Perhaps the Fates were jesters, and I was their favorite trick.Maybe the Moon Goddess simply didn’t like me enough to grant me peace.”