For a heartbeat, Morgana didn't move. Her eyes sharpened slightly, the faintest trace of recognition flickering there. Then she sighed, almost inaudibly, and turned to the wreckage.
"Invoke's chairman," she murmured. "Of course."
Elara's brow furrowed. "You know him?"
"Everyone does," Morgana said simply. "But few know what he actually does. The board is a nest of secrets, and Kael's the kind of man who makes sure none of them ever crawl out."
She turned her gaze back to Merlin. "You shouldn't have gone alone."
"I wasn't alone," he said.
Her eyes flicked to Elara, then back to him. "You shouldn't have gone at all."
That landed.
Merlin's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue.
Morgana studied him for a moment longer, then glanced at the ruins again. "You're lucky to be alive. The mana residue in that explosion wasn't natural, it was engineered."
"Engineered?" Elara repeated.
