Astra's POVThe tower smelled like scorched metal, damp parchment paper, and something bitter I couldn’t name.I hated it.Not just because it was unpleasant, I mean palaces like this one had their own damp smell bit because places like this were not just on rots but on secrets.I stood near the window, my hands clasped behind my back, and eyes fixed on the fog clinging to the outer courtyard. My guards waited near the door, silent and armored, watching every shadow.Jerome leaned on the wall, arms crossed and his expression unreadable.Between us, on a slab of blackstone, lay the ring.It looked harmless.That was what made it dangerous.A simple band of dull silver, etched with unfamiliar sigils. I had seen a lot of symbols and sigils and yet this I had not seen before. It was too thin to be ceremonial, too heavy to be ornamental.At first, I’d thought it was just another marker, like another symbol to trace back to Hollow Fang.I was wrong.The old man cleared his throat.He was ol
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