Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

Trixie's POVHarlan asked me to come over the next evening, voice careful over the phone in a way that immediately told me something had shifted since I'd left him propped on his couch with an ice pack and strict instructions to actually rest.I found him exactly where I'd left him, ankle elevated, though the tension in his shoulders had nothing to do with the injury. The house felt quieter than usual, staff dismissed early, curtains drawn against whatever might be watching from outside."You look like you haven't slept," I said, settling onto the couch beside him."I haven't, really." He rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion carved deep into features that usually stayed carefully composed no matter what was happening around him. "Elder Corwin came to see me last night. The same elder who spoke to you at the rink weeks ago."Something cold settled in my stomach at the mention of her, memory of pale eyes and cryptic warnings about fire following me somewhere it didn't belong."What d

Harlan's POVThe council summoned me again on a Tuesday, less than a week after Corwin's visit, and I knew before I even walked through the chamber doors that whatever they wanted to discuss wasn't going to be a simple update on Vale's grievance anymore.The summons had come with unusual formality, a written notice instead of the usual phone call, sealed with the pack crest in a way reserved for matters the council considered too serious for casual conversation. I'd read it three times before finally setting it down, dread already pooling low in my stomach.My father was already seated when I arrived, expression carefully neutral in the way that always meant he'd rehearsed this conversation with himself several times before allowing anyone else to hear it."Sit," the head elder said, gesturing toward the chair across from the assembled council. "We have a proposal to discuss.""I'm listening.""The prophecy Elder Corwin shared with you has understandably caused concern throughout the

Trixie's POVYasmine knocked on my door for the first time in weeks, which alone was enough to make me set down my homework and sit up straight, pencil forgotten on the page.I almost didn't recognize the sound at first, so unused to it after everything that had happened between us, that I actually glanced toward the window before realizing the knock had come from inside the apartment."Can I come in?" she asked, hovering in the doorway like she wasn't entirely sure of her welcome."Since when do you knock?""Since I wasn't sure you'd want me barging in anymore." She said it lightly, but something underneath the words carried real uncertainty, none of the careful performance she'd been wearing for weeks.I gestured her inside, and she sat on the edge of my bed, hands folded in her lap, looking younger somehow than she had in weeks, like whatever armor she'd built around herself since choosing Hugo had cracked enough to let something more vulnerable through."I need to tell you somethi

Yasmine's POVPretending nothing had changed between us turned out to be harder than I expected, mostly because Hugo noticed everything.I'd practiced my expression the whole walk over, keeping my breathing even, my shoulders loose, every instinct in me screaming to just stay home instead. I went anyway. Trixie needed eyes inside whatever Hugo was planning, and I was the only one who still had access."You've been distant," he said, meeting me at the cafe again, though the warmth in his voice felt more like a test now than genuine affection, careful and measured in a way that hadn't been there in our earlier weeks together. "Is something wrong?""Championships. School. The usual." I kept my tone light, careful, the way I'd practiced in the mirror the night before like some kind of actress rehearsing lines for a part I'd never wanted. "You know how it gets this time of year.""Mm." He studied me a moment longer than the answer warranted, and I forced myself to hold his gaze instead of

Trixie's POVNine days until the gathering, and somehow we still had a semifinal to win first.The arena buzzed with more energy than I'd felt in weeks, crowd packed tight into bleachers that had been half empty during qualifiers, banners hung for both teams fighting for a spot in the championship game. Somewhere out there, my parents sat in the stands, unaware of most of what had actually been happening around their daughters for the past several weeks, believing tonight was simply about hockey. Something in me stirred at the noise, some part of me that had been coiled tight since the sacred circle came up finally finding a place to spend all that restless energy. For ninety minutes, at least, I let myself focus on nothing except the ice in front of me."You ready?" Harlan asked, skating up beside me during warmups, ankle fully healed now, no trace of the limp that had worried all of us for weeks since the sabotage back at that practice none of us had fully recovered from yet."Ask m