Novels by Ricky_writes

Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Two Liana POVI stand there for a second, breathing in and trying to settle myself, because this is it. Everything I’ve dragged myself through, every choice that pulled me in circles, every moment I thought I was done for… it all leads right here. And I don’t feel calm. Not even close. My chest stays tight and my hands stay warm like my body is trying to warn me something is about to shift for good.I step forward anyway.The room feels different as soon as I walk in. Like air after a storm, heavy but clear. He’s there, watching me, and I can tell he’s been waiting. He’s not pretending to be collected. He’s not hiding anything. His shoulders stay still in that way people do when they’ve made up their mind about something that doesn’t have a rewind button.I shut the door behind me and his eyes follow the sound. I don’t speak yet. My thoughts scatter too fast. I feel everything I’ve carried hitting me all at once and it almost knocks the breath out of me.He

Chapter One Hundred Eighty One Liana POV Kael’s mouth is still warm on mine when I pull back a little.My breath catches in my chest.His hand stays on my jaw for a moment longer, like he isn’t ready to let go.Maybe I’m not either.The room feels smaller now.Not tight.Just full.Like every inch of space is charged with the way he looks at me.I shift closer again without thinking.My knees press against his thigh.My fingers slide up the front of his shirt and stop at the base of his throat.He inhales sharply when I touch him there.“I didn’t expect tonight to end like this,” I say.My voice is low, steady, too honest.Kael watches me like he’s learning every part of my face from this distance.“You didn’t do this because you feel alone,” he says.“You chose it.”“I know,” I whisper.“I’m not confused.”His thumb brushes my cheek.It’s slow.Careful.It sends warmth down the side of my neck.I lean into his touch, closing my eyes for a second.My chest rises and falls too fast.

Chapter One Hundred Eighty Liana POV Kael’s shoulder stays warm against mine.The room feels different with him sitting here.Not crowded.Just steady in a way my body leans toward before I even realise it.I breathe out slowly.My fingers pick at the edge of the blanket without thinking.My hands won’t stay still.Every breath feels too loud inside my head, but it’s better than the heavy dread that used to sit in my chest whenever doors closed behind me.Kael notices the way my hand fidgets.He doesn’t grab it.He doesn’t try to still it.He lets me move through whatever this feeling is.“I can’t stop replaying his face,” I say.My voice is low, almost tired.Not weak.Just worn down.Like the whole day pressed its hands into me and didn’t let go.Kael shifts a little closer.His knee bumps mine again.The contact feels grounding.“He didn’t expect you to stand against him,” Kael says.“Not like that.”I swallow.My throat feels rough.My brother’s voice echoes in my head even thou

Chapter One Hundred Seventy Nine Liana POVKael stays beside me even after the door closes behind my brother.Everyone else slowly leaves the room.Footsteps fade.The space empties one body at a time until it’s just the two of us and the tension that still hangs heavy in the air.I let out a long breath I didn’t know I was holding.My hands shake a little.I keep them at my sides so Kael doesn’t see, but he notices anyway.He steps closer.“You held your ground,” he says.His voice stays steady, not praising me, not hovering.Just there.My chest feels tight again, but it’s a different kind this time.Not fear.Something softer.Something I don’t fully trust yet.“I thought I’d fall apart,” I whisper.“You didn’t.”I look at the door where my brother left.For a second I expect him to burst back in, yelling, demanding, dragging me backward again.But nothing happens.Just silence.Not the poetic kind.Just real quiet.The kind that makes my heartbeat sound too loud inside my own hea

Chapter One Hundred Seventy Eight Liana POVI’m still sitting close to Kael when the knock comes.Not loud.Not urgent.Just enough to pull both of us out of the moment.Kael doesn’t let go of my hand right away.He squeezes once before he stands.“It’s probably Mira checking in,” he says.I nod, but my chest tightens anyway.Everything about today feels like a step forward and a step into fire at the same time.Kael opens the door only halfway.Mira stands there with her arms crossed, eyes sharp but worried.“You two need to get downstairs,” she says.“No one’s shouting, no one’s fighting, but the air feels like a blade about to drop.”Kael turns to me.“You ready?”No.Not completely.But I stand anyway.“I’m coming.”We walk out together.I don’t grab his hand again, but he stays close—close enough that I feel him with every step.The halls look different this morning.No chaos.No shouting.Just people watching us pass like they’re waiting for the conclusion of something they’ve

Chapter One Hundred Seventy Seven Liana POV Kael stays awake longer than I do.I can feel it in the way his breathing stays steady but alert, the way his hand rests on my arm like he’s still guarding the door with his body.I drift in and out, not fully asleep, not fully awake.Just resting against him because it’s the only place where nothing hurts.When I finally sit up, the room is dim.The sky outside has that early-morning grey that suggests the world hasn’t made up its mind yet.Kael opens his eyes the second I move.“You alright?” he asks.I nod, even though my chest still feels tight.He sits up too.His hair is a mess.His shirt is wrinkled.He looks like someone who didn’t sleep but stayed anyway.“Your brother won’t get through the gates again,” Kael says.“They doubled the watch.”“It’s not the gates I’m worried about,” I say quietly.He studies me, patient, waiting for the words I’m struggling with.“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” I admit.“Everything feels…

Ethan’s POV (Hopeful / Open for Book Two) The first light of morning came slowly. It touched the rooftops before it touched the streets. It warmed the stones before it warmed the air. And when it finally reached the courtyard below my window, it caught in Maya’s hair like it had been made for her. She was laughing at something one of the children said something small, something ordinary and I stood there watching her like I hadn’t been starved for peace until this very moment. The city was different now. Not fixed. Not healed. Just breathing again. People walked without looking over their shoulders. The market stalls were being rebuilt one by one. Music returned first softly, on corners like the city remembered joy before it remembered its own walls. It would take time. But we had time now. I stepped outside, and the breeze off the gardens carried the scent of jasmine and stone dust. Maya heard me before I spoke she always did and she turned, her smile soft before she trie

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-OneMaya’s POVThe river was quieter tonight.Not silent. Just softer. The kind of sound that sits low in the air, like it’s waiting for someone to speak first.The moonlight stretched over the water in a long silver line. I sat at the edge of it, my knees drawn up, my hands resting loosely over them. The grass beneath me was cool and damp, and the breeze kept brushing my hair across my cheek.I didn’t push it back.I just let it move.Ethan stood a short distance behind me at first. I could feel him there before he even made a sound. His presence always came like warmth quiet, steady, unmistakable. It didn’t matter that the night was cold. He made it feel like it wasn’t.He didn’t say anything.And I didn’t either.The silence between us didn’t feel like the kind that needed to be filled. It felt like the kind that knew we had already said too much, lived too much, survived too much.Eventually, he sat down beside me.Not touching.Just close enough tha

Chapter One Hundred and EightyMaya’s POVThe trees were blurring around me as I ran.My breath burned in my chest, each inhale sharp and uneven. The night air was cold and damp, catching against my skin. Branches scraped my arms and legs but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. The sound behind me was too close. Heavy steps. Too steady to be accidental.Someone was following.The river’s noise grew louder ahead. Rushing. Angry. I pushed toward it, my lungs tightening the more I forced my legs to keep moving.The ground dipped and I stumbled, catching myself on my hands. Dirt shoved under my nails. My knees stung but I got up again. I didn’t look back. I could feel them behind me. The cold on my neck. The weight of being watched.The water came into view through the trees, black and fast and wide. The river was always loud but tonight it felt louder. Like it knew I was about to reach it.The moonlight hit the surface in broken pieces.I stopped only when my feet reached the mud at the river’s e

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-NineMaya’s POVThe ridge narrowed as we moved, the ground slanting downward on either side. The air felt different here thinner, sharper like the forest itself was holding its breath. The distant rush of the river grew louder, but it was still too far below to see.Sera led the way now, moving carefully across the uneven ground. Arin and Lena followed close behind her, checking every step. Alvarez stayed near the back, his attention shifted not forward but behind us. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.Ethan walked beside me, matching my pace exactly.The trees creaked as the wind pushed through them, and dried leaves whispered along the ground. At first, that was all I heard.Then another sound slipped in beneath it.Soft.Rhythmic.Far.But moving.My steps slowed.Ethan noticed immediately. “What is it?”I haven’t answered yet. I listened harder.The wind. Leaves. Our footsteps.And underneathPadded movement.Fast.Intentional.Not human.Sera stopped

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-EightMaya’s POVThe trees began to thin as we moved forward, letting more light spill through the branches. The sun was rising now, soft gold threading between the trunks and catching on the frost still clinging to leaves and pine needles. The air warmed just a little, just enough to soften the cold in my fingers.We walked in silence again, but it wasn’t the same silence as before. The moment with the patrol had changed something. The quiet wasn’t just watchful now — it was shared.Arin walked in front with Lena, their heads close as they spoke about something practical the terrain, the slope, the best way to circle toward the foothills without leaving tracks. Their voices were low and steady. Sera was a few steps to the left, scanning the trees with that calm alertness that never seemed to leave her.Alvarez stayed behind us again, the last in line. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His presence was a boundary. A final wall.Ethan walked beside

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-SevenMaya’s POVThe air grew colder as we moved downhill. The path narrowed into a worn strip of earth, half-frozen and slick in places where frost still clung to the grass. The valley on our left fell away into a deep gorge, the sound of rushing water faint but steady far below. On the right, the slope rose steep and uneven, scattered with dark evergreen trees that looked almost black against the grey morning sky.No one spoke for a while. The quiet wasn’t heavy. It was focused.Ethan walked ahead of us, his shoulders tense beneath his coat. I could see the way his attention shifted constantly from the bend in the road, to the treeline above us, to the pale horizon in front of us where the mountains met the sky. It wasn’t fear. It was a calculation. The kind of awareness that comes from knowing danger doesn’t always announce itself.Sera walked beside me now, her steps light and her eyes sharp. She didn’t look tired even though she hadn’t slept. She never