تسجيل الدخولMy 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 still struggle with my training, I’m not gonna lie, but then again, I’m not an overachiever or a perfectionist like Xena is. I’m more down to earth and prefer things flowing as they should without trying to force things. If I don’t get a certain technique in the first trial like Xena, I no longer
“I know,” I say quietly.I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel different. Like something inside me has changed. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s there, lingering on the edge of my soul.Feeling eyes on me, I turn only to find Brian’s eyes on me“You feel different,” he says slowly, almost
“Mommy!”I turn to find Aspen sprinting toward me, her little legs moving with such speed it makes me wonder if she’s secretly the Flash.I barely have time to brace myself before she leaps into my arms.“Hi, my love,” I greet her, burying my nose in her hair just to inhale her scent.I don’t know a
I never knew this is how love feels. It’s like I’m permanently on cloud nine, or drunk on dopamine.Her chest rises as she steadies herself, and then her words cut through me like lightning.“I think… it’s time we tell Aspen the truth.”For a moment, I forget how to breathe. My mind blanks, my heart







