დ Elara დ
The letter from the county sat on the table like a trophy. Official seal. Thick paper. Black ink that made it real in a way my clipboard never could. Project suspended pending review. I had read the words three times already, out loud once, just to make sure they were the same in my voice as they were on the page. They were. And for the first time in weeks, I let myself lean back in my chair and feel something like pride. It wasn’t gone. But it was stalled. And that was something.
“You are grinning,” Rowan said. He leaned against the kitchen counter with a bowl of popcorn balanced in his hands. “Dangerous look on you,”
“I earned it,” I shot back. I tapped the letter with my finger. “This buys us time,”
“Time for what?”
“To fight harder,” I said. He shook his head, a smile tu
