LOGINNero POV The Next “Are you planning to keep that woman in bed all day, or are you going to come down here and see your family?”I opened one eye.Abel was standing outside my window, one hand gripping the frame, the other cupped around his mouth as he shouted into my room.I stared at him.He grinned.“Good morning to you too, Your Majesty!”“Keep shouting and I’ll throw you off that window.”“You could try.” He leaned farther into view, looking past me toward the bed. “Remi! Is he alive under there? Should I send for a healer?”I turned my head.Remi was still asleep, her face half buried in the pillow, her hair spread across the sheets. She had barely slept the previous night. Every time I closed my eyes, Future Remi’s warning returned to me, and every time I shifted, Remi seemed to sense it.I wasn't about to wake her because my brother had forgotten how to use a door.“Get away from my window, Abel.”“Come downstairs. The boys have missed you.”“Then tell them to wait.”“They've
Nero POV Continued “I can't tell you. Telling you would change the course of time. I know it's no longer safe, and I know the person who ends up with it will understand its value sooner than you think.” Future Remi Responded“Does Chimera have it?”“No.”“Because if Chimera already had that Moonstone, we wouldn't be having this conversation.”I studied her face, searching for any sign she was hiding something from me.Future Remi held my gaze. “If he had it, Remi would already be gone.”A cold feeling settled in my stomach.“Explain.”“The two Moonstones are connected. One can counter the effects of the other, but only if you have the right one. The original PackMoonstone is the only thing you have left that can protect you against what the second half can do.”“Then we take the second half back.”“And walk straight into a trap? You don't even know who's holding it.”“I'll find out.”“Of course you will. You're Nero. You think every problem can be solved by finding the person respons
Nero POVI was still thinking about the dwarfs when sleep finally caught up with me.Remi was lying beside me, She had been talking for the last few minutes about Manuel, “You're not listening to me,” she murmured.“I am.”My eyes grew heavy. The last thing I remembered was drifting off. Then I was somewhere else.I stood in the middle of a forest beneath a pale, unfamiliar sky. Tall trees surrounded me, their branches twisting overhead, and a narrow path stretched between them. There was no wind, no birds, no sound at all.I looked down at myself. No wounds. No blood. No sign of the bed I'd just been lying in.“Wonderful,” I muttered. “A dream.”“Look at you. Still complaining before you've even figured out where you are.”I turned sharply.Future Remi stood a few feet away, leaning against a tree with her arms folded. She looked exactly as I remembered her from the dreams she'd visited me in before, wearing that infuriating little smile that always made me wonder whether she knew so
Remi POvI sat up a little straighter. “How was she?”“Not well.”My smile faded. “What do you mean?”“She was weaker than when I last saw her. She could barely stand, and her wolf seems to be fading.”“Could it be because she's been imprisoned for so long?”“That was my first thought, but I don't think that's all it is.”I remembered how strong Anatoria had been during the challenge. There had been moments when I couldn't understand how she moved so quickly or how she managed to withstand blows that should have forced her to retreat.“What are you thinking?” I asked.“I suspect Anatoria did something to Victoria.”My stomach tightened. “You think she hurt her?”“I think she took something from her. I'm not certain what happened, but Victoria said something that made me believe she knew exactly where Anatoria's new strength came from.”“What did she say?”Nero's jaw tightened. “She said, 'With all that power, she still lost.' When I asked her what she meant, she became frightened and
Remi POVBy the time Nero finally agreed to leave the celebration, I had begun to suspect he was enjoying himself far too much.“You know,” I said as we stepped into the corridor, “for someone who complained about the noise, you spent an awful lot of time arguing with Damon over which one of you was the better dancer.”Nero glanced down at me. “I was correcting a man who had clearly lost touch with reality.”“You lost a fight with your own feet.”“I allowed him to win.”“Of course. And I suppose you let me step on your foot three times because you were being generous?”His mouth twitched. “Four times.”I stopped walking. “You counted?”“I was considering whether to have the floor repaired afterward.”I shoved his arm, and his laughter followed us down the corridor. It was a good sound, one I wished I could bottle and keep for the days when the world became too ugly for either of us to bear. For a little while, we had been surrounded by familiar faces, warm food, and people who wanted
Caya Pov ContinuedI stayed hidden, trying to understand what I was seeing. Then one of the dwarfs moved aside, revealing a narrow fissure beneath the creature's body.Blue light shone from inside it.My heart gave a hard kick.No.I leaned forward, barely daring to breathe.The glow was unmistakable. I had seen that color in the old carvings and markings associated with Moonstone.The missing half.They had found it.All this time, I had assumed the dwarfs were still searching. I hadn't known they were this close. I hadn't known the stone was even here.Now I understood why they had been guarding the mountain so carefully.They weren't looking for the Moonstone anymore.They were trying to get it out.“Another inch,” the leader ordered. “Slowly. If you damage the stone, I'll have your hands.”“Maybe we should wait until we know what we're dealing with,” a younger dwarf said.The leader turned on him. “We've been digging toward this thing for weeks. We're not stopping now because you'







