I stand up, my ribs protesting the movement, and look at Kade. Through the mate bond, I feel his absolute, unyielding resolve.
We have a wedding to plan, I project, a faint, wry amusement coloring my mental tone. And a political siege to survive.
Let them come, Kade projects back, his mental voice dropping to a lethal, icy calm. They want to see a show. We’ll give them a spectacle.
The next three weeks are a blur of logistical chaos and political maneuvering.
The UN delegation arrives at the Academy gates exactly forty-eight hours before the ceremony. Fifty humans in crisp, dark suits, accompanied by a dozen UN security personnel carrying heavy, metallic cases. The Harmonic Dampeners.
General Croft meets them at the gate, her military bearing rigid, her eyes flashing with a fierce, pr
