POV: Kael

“I knew something was wrong the moment Jake stopped arguing with me.”

Jake has always argued. That is how I know he is still thinking, still loyal, still present.

Jake questions orders not out of defiance, but out of a relentless need for the best possible outcome.

He challenges my instincts. He pushes back just enough to keep me honest, acting as the friction that prevents me from sliding into tyranny

Tonight, he agrees too easily.

“We should widen the perimeter,” I say, ...