MasukMy gaze sweeps across the courtyard, taking in the faces, the laughter, and the sense of peace that still feels surreal.And then my eyes find her.Xena.I can’t bring myself to call her Lola, just as she can’t bring herself to call me Sadie. To everyone else, we are Lola and Sadie but to each other
“Sadie?” Alec murmurs gently beside me, voice low and coaxing. “You ready?”I turn, and he’s there, exactly where he’s always been. Tall, steady, eyes soft in a way I once thought I’d never be on the receiving end of. He’s holding our son in his arms, swaddled in a light silver blanket that shimmers
He already knows. He always does.“Ready?” I say quietly, though everyone hears me.“Definitely… Been waiting to make you officially mine for months,” he says, earning a chuckle from everyone.Slowly, he puts Aspen down, who is smiling from ear to ear.We told her the truth, that Alec is her dad, an
The night is quiet. Not the tense quiet that comes before war, not the brittle silence of grief but a living stillness, deep and steady, like the world has finally exhaled.It has been a month since the battle. A month since blood stained this land. A month since Kaden fell. A month since I learned
Kaden sees it too late. He lunges, but we are faster.I raise my hand and time stops and light pours from me in radiant waves. Lola steps forward, shadows trailing her like smoke. Light and shadow coil around us, not fighting, but circling, choosing. The air thickens, charged, every particle vibrat
The guilt is suffocating. It crawls up my throat like it wants to rip me apart from the inside.This isn’t how it was meant to be. This isn’t how it was meant to end. Kaden wasn’t supposed to win.I wipe away the tears. No! I refuse to let her die.I feel something crack open in my chest at my deter
I walk beside Mother.Her presence hums through the air, silver light brushing the forest floor as though the world itself is holding its breath. Every step I take feels heavier than the last, not from exhaustion, but from anticipation.I’ve waited for this moment. I’ve dreamed of it. Replayed it in
She nods solemnly, accepting that answer with the kind of grace only children have.After breakfast, I ask Martha to take Aspen where the other kids will be until the ceremony ends. She doesn’t fuss, as if even she knows deep down, even without understanding.The ceremony takes place in the clearing
Micah.Sadie disappears. One blink and she’s gone and all I can do is curse under my breath.“Dammit, Sadie.”My pulse is a thunderstorm beneath my skin. I know what the council does to threats. I know exactly what kind of cruelty they’re capable of. If she walks in there blind with fury, they’ll br
I move before I think and stand guard in front of Alec. I just can't stand back and watch them take him away from me. I just can't.“No. You’re not taking him.” I tell them sharply, my hands fisted to my side.The clearing erupts.King is the first to move to my side, his presence a solid wall of au







