Naomi’s Pov

The threat didn’t announce itself.

It slipped in through routine.

I felt it in the way conversations shifted when I entered a room. Not silence this time, but something more deliberate. People choose words carefully. Watching reactions. Measuring distance like it meant something again.

Cassian noticed too.

He didn’t say it out loud at first. He never did. But his posture changed. Not defensive. Focused. Like he’d recognized a pattern and was already tracking it.

“They’re not backing off,” I said quietly as we stood near the window that evening.

“No,” he replied. “They’re adapting.”

That was worse.

Adaptation meant strategy. Strategy meant intent.

We didn’t argue about...