Chapter 24: Solenne's Final Briefing — and What She Didn't Say

The station light shifted before Solenne arrived.

Not the sourceless silver of her previous appearances — not the corrupted-code flicker Jax had catalogued, or the starlit density Lira recognized from Varenthal's treasury ceiling, or the particular quality of illumination Desta associated with the breach's responsive dark. This was all of those at once, layered over each other in a way that should have produced noise and instead produced a silence so complete it had texture.

Maren's hand moved to her coat. Then stopped. She stood very still with her hand against her chest and watched.