The fire began before dawn.
Claire smelled it first — smoke and scorched stone mixed with the chill of morning. By the time she reached the North Arch, one of the Brotherhood's watchpoints beneath the Pont Neuf, it was already too late.
The protective runes had been shattered. The symbol of the Light Guard burned into the stone ceiling, drawn with cruel precision.
Three bodies lay among the rubble. Two sentinels. And the third...
— "It's Camille," murmured Solène, kneeling beside the body. "She was the last who knew the full seal of the Rose."
Claire knelt next to her friend. For a moment, words failed. Then she saw it — in the ashes on the wall, hastily written in blood:
"Don't trust A."
— "Armand?" Claire whispered, the world spinning around her.
— "Or someone wants us to think it was him," Solène replied, her eyes shadowed with doubt.
From the top of the bridge, a figure was watching. Claire felt its presence, but when she looked, there was only fog.
She rose to her feet, her gaze locked on the bloodied message.
— "They've declared war."
Solène nodded, slowly.
— "Then it's time to answer."