Catherine's POV
My power stirred not flaring, not demanding, but simply present, like a hand resting lightly against my spine. It no longer overwhelmed my senses. It aligned with them. Where it had once pressed outward, searching for shape, it now fit. Settled. As if my body had been designed for this density all along.
That terrified Morwen more than any outburst ever had.
"They've been warned," she said after a moment. "Again and again."
"And they ignored it," I replied. "Because warning has no cost."
I turned slightly, meeting her gaze.
"I'm done asking."
The words weren't sharp. They didn't need to be. They settled into the air with the certainty of a conclusion already reached.
Morwen hesitated. I saw it, the calculation, the branching futures flickering behind her eyes. "Once you intervene directly," she said carefully, "there will be consequences we cannot predict."
I smiled faintly. "No. There will be consequences we refuse to acknowledge."
