Chapter Forty-One

Ronin paced back and forth, raking his hand through his hair, clenching his fist so tight that blood dripped between his knuckles. His first-rank council members surrounded him, with equally frayed nerves.

Lucien was gnawing on his last fingernail, Maia was bouncing in place, and Nikolai stood still as a statue, tracking every movement under the pavilion. Caius, Xander, and Thaddeus focused all their energy on preventing him from going after Derith.

Growling, Ronin shoved at Caius, “Damnit, she should’ve woken up by now. It’s been half an hour.”

“Hey, there’s still 30 minutes left. Be patient. Remember time passes differently in the Soulscape and she is on a very dangerous quest.” He moved with Ronin, using his body to block any view of Derith.

“If she dies, Caius… I am going to make Derith wish he was dead.”

“Derith is untouchable right now.” Xander blocked his line of sight, crossing his arms, “If you kill him, there will be anarchy. Even if we assassinated him, all fingers wou