Chapter 127

The next morning came slowly.

A thin veil of dawn washed the Aegis grounds in a muted gray-blue. Mist clung low to the earth, curling around trees and walkways like ghostly fingers. Birds had yet to begin their morning chorus, as though even nature hesitated to disturb the delicate hush that hung over the compound.

Talia hadn’t slept. She sat in the same chair beside Cormac’s bed, one hand loose