Meanwhile, far from the quiet inn where Nero and Khione shared their peaceful evening, Elreth made her way through the outer city toward a destination known to very few.
She walked alone, her steps measured and calm, though her mind churned with the events of the past days. The battles. The ambush. The wolves. The strange, silent alliance forged with Khione in the heat of survival. So much had happened, so quickly.
But tonight was not for thinking about any of that.
She stopped before a tall, elegant gate, hidden between two ordinary buildings. A small, nearly invisible symbol was carved into the stone—the crest of the Samael clan, the burning phoenix. She pressed her palm against it, and the gate swung silently open.
