The Dominion laughed, and the sound of it had my lips thinning. It was an evil sound, curling low with contempt as it rolled across the space.
He wasn’t attacking–not yet, but he was reminding us exactly what stood in front of us—what kind of devastation he could unleash if he chose.
He didn’t need to move. He simply existed above us like a storm that had already decided where it would strike.
But then, the shape of the sky changed.
More wings filled the air. Not just the first wall of angels who had shielded Kieran, but more behind them, lifting upward with unwavering precision. White feathers and gleaming armor flooded the horizon, and they weren’t alone. The Beast Tamers arrived next, rising with their creatures.
A pegasus with wings of polished gold burst into view first, muscles bunching and stretching beneath a coat that shimmered with power. Flames followed in a slow, spiraling arc as a phoenix glided past on a draft of heat, its ember-feathered tail trailing sparks in its wake. And then a gryphon soared just above the rooftops, its cry splitting through the hum of elemental build-up, every beat of its wings carrying the promise of force if the line was crossed.
Tamers continued to flood the sky, their bodies glowing with tether magic, control lines looping around them in intricate, flickering patterns.
The Elementalists joined next, summoned by no call but their own sense of duty. They stepped into place atop ledges and training platforms, conjuring power like they had been waiting their entire lives for this moment to arrive. Wind twisted at their backs, building into tight, controlled cyclones that curled upward like reaching fingers. Flames pooled in slow-building spheres between outstretched palms. Water pulled itself from cracks in the stone and gathered around their bodies like armor, glistening and controlled. Lightning snapped like static along the edges of cloaks, not wild, but waiting.
They were no longer fighting to protect a hierarchy. They were protecting people.Us.
The realization pressed into my chest with slow, dawning weight. This wasn’t some passive neutrality anymore. Alfemirhad chosen where it stood—and for the first time in my lifetime, it wasn’t beside the triad. It was besideus.
The Dominion’s expression didn’t falter, but I saw the shift in his posture. His wings curled in, just slightly, the taut lines of his body flexing with what might have been restraint, or the beginning of something worse.
But he didn’t strike, instead, he let out another low laugh, darker this time.
“Very well,” he said, his voice spreading across the courtyard. “I will return. And when I do, you will sing a different tune… when the first triad stands beside me.”
14
KIERAN
A Dominion had cometo Alfemir, our worst fears realized, and its arrival carried a single promise: something unstoppable was coming. The first triad.
After the confrontation, we’d spent hours on the castle grounds, steadying shaken citizens and keeping order where panic threatened to rise.I spoke with allied Archangels and gave brief orders where I could—anything to keep my hands busy as I tried to sort through my own thoughts on what the hell had just happened. Only when the last ray of sunlight disappeared did I find myself at Archangel Astor’s medical bedside, watching the healers work on her arm and ribs as she insisted she was completely fine.
By then, the adrenaline that had carried me through the previous few hours had burned out, leaving only the weight of fatigue in its place. Tomorrow, we’d have to decide what came next—how to prepare for the inevitable. Whatever the upper triads sent for us, it would fall on me to meet it first.
We slipped quietly into the house, the door closing behind us with a soft thud. I toed off my boots, flexing my sore ankles as the night’s chill followed me in. I shrugged out of the jacket Gabe had wrapped me in and made my way upstairs on unsteady legs.Below, the fridge opened, followed by the faint clatter of dishes—Ronan rummaging for something to make for dinner. I needed a shower. A distraction. Anything.
As hot water hit, I could only think one thing: A Dominion.
They were every bit as terrifying as I’d imagined, but that hadn’t stopped me from surging forward the moment he hurt one of mine. Tears stung behind my eyes—not from terror, but from release—as the memory replayed: the rush of wings, the sudden unity as so many rose into the sky beside me, refusing to back down.
When I finally left the shower the night before, exhaustion had dulled everything to a haze. I made it downstairs long enough to eat half a bowl of rice and vegetables that Ronan had thrown together before sleep caught up to me. I must have drifted off between him and Steele, because when I woke the next morning, I was in my bed, limbs sprawled, body heavy but rested for the day ahead.
Considering the meeting this morning, that was a mercy.Or maybe it was just the coffee.
The wind cut sharp across my wings as we descended toward the castle, the sky brushed in a hazy gold from the late-morning sun. The air smelled of morning dew, the city below stirring back to life. My heart eased when I saw no Dominion waiting above the castle’s battlements, only soldiers drilling in the courtyards and the quiet shimmer of light on stone.
We landed in the courtyard outside the castle’s entrance, the air alive with motion despite the early hour. Messengers darted through the gates, squadrons hauled crates of supplies around the back, and the flash of dark uniforms told me Niz’s parentshad already arrived with their escort. They’d arrived quickly, despite the warning only coming the night before.
I took a slow breath, grounding myself before moving forward. Dozens of eyes followed our every step. I knew I needed to project the confidence they were searching for—even if I had to build it from my own fears and doubt about the future.
Soldiers stepped forward as we approached, pushing open the heavy doors as the warm corridor air met us. My gaze stayed fixed ahead, toward the council chamber where today’s meeting would be held. Steele and Gabe flanked me, the others close behind.
Our footsteps echoed against the high stone walls, measured and in sync. Somewhere in that rhythm, after everything we’d fought through, I felt the bond between us—unspoken, steady, fierce.
As we reached the heart of the castle, the same chamber we’d used before waited for us, though it looked different now. Chairs ringed the long walnut table that had been moved to the center. Maps and scrolls lay scattered across its surface, their corners pinned with stones against the cool breeze drifting through an open window.
I slowed as we entered, scanning the room—taking stock of everyone gathered. Amelia sat near the middle, her expression drawn as she murmured something to Noah. Across from them, Niz’s parents spoke in low tones with Archangels Astor and Mithrie. Astor’s injured arm remained bound across her chest, but her posture was straight, unyielding. When the doors closed behind us, the sound echoed through the chamber, and every head turned our way.
