Chapter 69

Nicolas POV

My boots crunched against the gravel path leading to the Levites pack house, my every step ringing with defiance. Weeks of confinement had left my body leaner, my eyes sharper, and though the bruises had faded, the fire in me burned fiercer than ever. I had endured my father's wrath, the elders' condemnation, even Elliot's pleading words-but nothing, nothing, would sway me from what I had resolved.

The guards at the gates stiffened at my approach, their nostrils flaring ...