CHAPTER 232, THE HIDDEN PATH
The passage beneath the archive swallowed them almost immediately, and with every step the sanctuary behind them seemed to disappear into another lifetime. Elena walked at the front with the crystal secured inside her jacket, its faint warmth pressing against her chest like a second heartbeat. She could still hear Daniel's final conversation with Ascension echoing in her mind. Neither of them had sounded like enemies preparing for war. They had sounded like two people who once believed in the same dream but eventually reached different conclusions about how that dream should survive. That realization disturbed her more than any threat could have. Hatred was easy to understand. Conviction was far more dangerous because it could transform ordinary people into defenders of completely opposite futures while allowing both sides to believe they were acting out of compassion.
