Chapter 80

Rafael's POV

I cleared the schedule before sunrise.

I told them three days. Territory liaison cover story, same meetings Iris’s father was attending up north, only I’d be “handling secondary coordination remotely.” It was close enough to the truth that no one on the council questioned it and far enough from the actual plan that no one would look for me at the old family cabin outside the main lines. I sent the necessary orders, signed off on the suppressant allocation updates, and left Mason with clear instructions that nothing short of a border emergency was to reach me until Sunday.

The cabin itself took less time than...