KIERAN
A few hours later,the question hadn’t left my mind.
When would they come?
We hadn’t come to any solid conclusion in the meeting, but our path was clear: give me space to face the prophecy and stay on the defensive for whatever chaos the upper triads would unleash for defying their so-called divine order. Meanwhile we’d slowly begin to figure out how all of our separate factions could co-exist together. Trust would take a long time to build.
When Noah suggested training today, I agreed without hesitation, already knowing where we’d go. It was the perfect way to calm my mind and focus on what I could control.
The wind carried the scent of sun-warmed stone as we descended toward the Placement Hall—the same building where I’d failed test after test. Where so many had made me feel less than.
It looked smaller now, less like a threat.
The last time I’d flown down here, the world had felt cold and judgmental, ready to crush me beneath the weight of disappointment. My father had been waiting at the steps, eager to count every flaw, every breath and heartbeat measured and found lacking.
Sunlight poured through the marble archways, catching on the walls until they gleamed. The bronze doors still loomed, but I no longer feared what waited beyond them.
“Hasn’t been long since we were last here, Beauty,” Ronan rumbled as he landed beside me. “But it feels like a century.”
I huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah,” I sighed. “Long enough for everything to change.”
Niz landed a short distance away, the impact sending dust curling through the air. A bundle of clothes hung from his jaws, clenched carefully between his teeth. By the time he jogged back toward us, the shimmer of his shift had already faded—wings gone, scales replaced by skin. He straightened and tugged the clothes on.
He smirked as he fastened the button on his pants. “Except this time I’m not stuck in my tiny wyvern form.”
A faint smile tugged at my mouth. “This is where I met you and you winked at me. Don’t think I forgot that moment.”
Niz’s grin turned wicked as he bounced his eyebrows up and down. “I couldn’t help myself from flirting with you even then, little flame.”
My heart squeezed at the easy affection in his voice, light and sincere all at once.
Ronan chuckled. “I think this is also when you implied I had a small dick.”
The memory rushed over me—the last placement test I’d ever taken, his devastatingly handsome grin and the way he’d made me smile when everything had felt too heavy. I laughed, caught off guard. “I suppose I should double-check that?—”
A startled sound escaped me as Ronan tugged me close, stealing a deep, unhurried kiss. The taste of him lingered even as he broke the kiss, quickly reminding me of the way his muscular body felt against mine, the tightness of his grip on my hips,the way he’d filled every part of me until breathing had felt impossible. I knew exactly howbigRonan was.
His breath brushed my ear, voice dropping to a low growl. “Anytime you want. Literally any time, Beauty.”
Something warm and unguarded loosened in my chest, the heated moment still humming between us, filled with a lightness I craved. For all the shadows we carried, moments like this reminded me there could still be a future worth fighting for.
“Let’s get started!” Noah called from the doorway.
It was strange seeing him anywhere other than his cottage in the woods. Still, it was a welcome change, replacing memories of failure with something steadier, almost familiar.
Steele, Gabe, and Bastian were already striding through the entrance, and Niz fell into step beside me and Ronan. His arm looped easily around my waist, and he pressed a silent kiss to the top of my head.
Inside, the space rose three stories high beneath a domed ceiling, white marble walls veined with gold catching the sunlight that streamed through tall windows. Golden candles lined the upper ledges, their steady glow blending with the light pouring through the windows. At the back of the hall, couches and lounge chairs framed a sweeping staircase that curved toward the secondary wing of the building. We moved toward it, the faint echo of our footsteps carrying through the quiet.
“Everyone spread out,” Noah instructed, his voice carrying through the vast room. “We train in pairings today, but the goal is the same—prepare every power we have before either the stars fall or the upper triads makes their move.”
The triad.
The reminder made my chest tighten with anxiety. I wouldn’t discount Astor’s warning—we absolutely had a war looming in our future, but for now, all Icouldcontrol was my role in the prophecy. My focus needed to remain there.
Beyond the staircase, the hall opened into the training yard. It was a vast expanse crowned by a glass ceiling that stretched from wall to wall. Sunlight fractured through its panes, scattering gold across the floors and the etched circles that marked each sparring ring. The air carried the faint tang of metal, and heavy testing equipment lined the edges of the field, silent and waiting. Each surface hummed with power that remembered every test ever held here.
Ronan and Niz crossed to the far west side of the room, where I watched as Noah ordered them to conjure shadow beasts and test how long they could hold against Niz in his human form first and then against his wyvern form.
