Semua Bab The Price Of Fate: Bab 301 - Bab 310

Nyra’s POVFor a second, I thought I had imagined them. Keiran stood near the path with a pack at his feet and a blade strapped to his side. He looked tired. More than tired. Something in him looked scraped raw, as if he had walked through his own private ruin before coming here. His eyes were shadowed, his face calmer than it should have been, and that calm frightened me a little because I knew Keiran well enough to recognise when pain had stopped shouting and started standing. Astrid stood beside him. She looked almost fully healed now, though there was still a faint bruise near her jaw and a tiredness around her eyes that healing could not erase. She wore travelling clothes, practical and dark, with a small pack over one shoulder. Her Prima presence was steadier than her body had any right to be after what happened yesterday. There was also a spark in her eyes, something between fear, curiosity, and the kind of stubbornness that got people into trouble and sometimes out of it.Rona

Nyra’s POVMy throat burned. Malcolm looked away. So did Charles. Even Spiro had the decency to turn his gaze toward the darkening road. When Elara finally pulled back, she touched Ronan’s face with both hands. “You come back to me,” Elara whispered. Ronan covered one of her hands with his. “I will do everything I can,” Ronan promised. She shook her head, tears spilling now. “I know that is the honest answer. I hate it,” Elara admitted. A faint, pained smile touched Ronan’s mouth. “I know,” Ronan replied.Elara looked at me next. I braced, not because I thought she would blame me, but because her pain always found the softest part of me. She came to me and took my hands. “Bring him home,” Elara begged. “I will try,” I whispered. Her fingers tightened. “And bring yourself home too,” Elara added. Those words did more damage than I expected. Maybe because she did not separate my life from his. Maybe because she did not look at me like the danger dragging Ronan away, but as someone walkin

Nyra’s POVMy chest felt cold. I thought of Tobias standing in Emberfall, half-blood and hated, with brothers who saw him as lesser, clans that did not want to bow, a mate from the fertile land, a child hidden beyond the barrier, war pressing at all sides. What did a man do when his own people doubted him and his brothers wanted what he refused to give? What did a half-blood prince become when no one wanted to kneel until he gave them a reason to fear the floor beneath them?I did not want my father tied to wraiths. I did not want that shadow near the little fragile ache that had begun forming around the idea of him. But not wanting did not change rumours. Or truth. Seraphina’s presence warmed slightly. ‘Rumours are often jealousy wearing borrowed teeth,’ she said. ‘You think it is false?’ I asked her. ‘I think father’s blood is complicated enough to frighten simple minds,’ she replied. ‘That does not mean he sold his soul.’Her confidence helped a little. Not enough. I looked at Spir

Nyra’s POVRonan drove slowly, carefully avoiding what could be avoided. Twice, he had to stop because the road ahead was blocked by fallen wood, bodies, or broken debris. Keiran and Spiro got out once to move a burnt beam enough for the van to pass. I wanted to help, but Ronan’s hand caught mine before I opened the door. “Stay for now,” Ronan murmured. I looked at him. His face was hard, but not dismissive. “You do not need to step into that unless you must,” Ronan added.I wanted to argue. Then another gust of wind carried the smell of death and burned flesh through the cracked window, and my stomach rolled so hard I could not speak. I stayed. Not because I was weak. Because there were moments when strength meant not pretending pain could not affect me.Spiro moved through the road like someone who had seen ruin before and hated that it did not surprise him. That was what unsettled me most. Not that he looked unaffected. He did not. But he looked familiar with it. As if Edenwood’s d

Nyra’s POVThe moment passed quickly, but it mattered. It did not erase Edenwood behind us. It did not soften Ashvale before us. It did not make the barrier less broken or the Outlands less hungry. But it reminded me that we were still ourselves. Frightened. Marked. Tired. Standing before a nightmare and still somehow capable of being irritated by a vain dragon in my head.I turned back to Spiro. “We need to get to Emberfall fast,” I said. Spiro nodded once. “Yes,” he agreed. “Once we are somewhere we can safely fly, I will take the form of the Aetherfangs and carry Ronan and Astrid,” I continued. “You can carry Keiran.” Keiran’s head snapped toward me. “Why am I with him?” Keiran asked. “Because Ronan is my mate,” I answered.Astrid made a small sound that might have been a laugh. Keiran looked like he regretted asking. Ronan’s thumb moved over my knuckles, amused despite everything. Spiro frowned. “I can carry all of you,” Spiro offered. “You do not need to shift.” I looked at him.