The council chamber filled again well past midnight, exhaustion carved into every face gathered around the long table, and Marina stood at its head with Silvain beside her, laying out the Custodian's offer with the same unflinching honesty they had promised the pack only hours earlier.

"He wants to prove his belief," she finished. "That the third archive holds something the First Circle sealed out of fear rather than wisdom. He's offered to let us witness it directly, under our own precautions, and to seal it permanently himself if he's proven wrong."

"And you believe he's sincere," Dessa said, "even after everything."

"I believe he genuinely holds this belief," Marina...