I allowed myself to process what I had read.
If the name in that dossier was truly alive, then it meant one of two things. Either the Council had been deceived, or I had failed in a task I had never before questioned. And failure was not something I entertained lightly.
Deception from the Council was unlikely. They were too desperate to rein me in, too determined to keep me leashed. If this was meant to be a manipulation, they would have chosen a different card to play. Which left only the other possibility—one that I refused to acknowledge without proof.