Chapter 143

Maeve’s POV

“What about Valerius?” Nyxara interjected abruptly, her voice slicing through the low murmur of our strategy session in the torchlit chamber. Flickering flames danced over the rough stone walls, and a battered wooden table covered in maps and scrolls stood at the center.

I glanced up from the parchments. That was the question I’d been avoiding since our arrival—a question that had haunted my every sleepless night.

Luther, lounging against a crumbling pillar, let out a dark chuckle. “We kill him, and this wretched place crumbles with him,” he declared, tapping his sword’s pommel for emphasis.

Draven’s eyes, however, never wavered from me—intense, expectant. I drew in a shaky breath, meeting his gaze before turning to Nyxara and Luther.