STACY (Final Chapter) The days after Jason’s death feel like walking through a storm that never ends. Grief comes in waves, sharp and endless, dragging me under until I can hardly breathe. Nights are the hardest. Liam curls into me, asking why lied to him. I finally told him the truth of what
After the burial ceremony, people drift away like leaves. It leaves room for things that need saying—hard decisions that want sunlight. Nate stands a step from me. His face is carved with exhaustion, and I watch his breath as though it could explain everything. “So, what next?” I say to him, the s
STACY I wake to the taste of iron and a grief so heavy it pins me to the mattress. For a moment I don’t know where my body ends and the dark begins. Then I remember the circle, the runes, and the fire—Jason’s face bright as a match just before the world went white. He’s not beside me. There is a
JASON. The circle resists everything we throw at it. Knight's claws rake across the glowing runes until sparks fly, Kael summons stormfire that burns hotter than any forge, Daniel hurls raw Alpha power that shakes the ground beneath us. Still, the barrier holds. And all the while, Stacy’s scre
Adrenaline slams through me, a flicker of life that makes the circle tense. The runes flare brighter, sensing their prey’s pulse in the earth. I try to call louder, but the circle chews at my chest with hunger. My limbs go light. I taste copper on my tongue. My vision swims silver at the edges. Fr
STACY Darkness tastes like iron and old rain. I wake to my throat raw, and my mouth packed with the tang of something bitter. The first thing I notice is the ropes biting into my wrists, a pressure across my chest like a hand that will not let go. The second is the light: a ring of fire, low and