A soft warmth settled through the room, a collective exhale that loosened something in the air. I felt it echo in my chest as Steele pushed the meeting forward. “Let’s break into planning groups—air operations, ground defenses, and supplies and medical. We move fast and start now.”
By the time the council finally broke apart, night had swallowed the camp.
Orders carried through the dark as evacuation preparations began, runners taking off into the sky to spread word in Alfemir. Beyond them, angels and wyverns alike were already moving and heading out to the first trap sites and reinforcing the city’s walls.
It would be a long night for many, but it meant that, no matter what came, the people of Alfemir would be safe, and the city would be ready to meet the attacks aimed at it.
I stayed seated long after the others had gone, elbows braced against the table, staring at the wreck of maps and ink before me. My stomach reminded me I’d skipped dinner, but exhaustion kept me still. When I finally stepped outside to join my mates, the night air met me like cool water.
Above, the stars’ silver light stretched against the dark, seeming larger somehow, as if they were leaning toward us. For everyone’s sake, I had to hope they weren’t. Steele and I weren’t ready.
18
KIERAN
Smokefrom the bonfires hung thick in the air as night pressed close around our forest camp. The wind barely stirred the treetops. Preparations for war were in full swing, but my men had insisted we rest after a long day on the move. Everyone drifted to their tasks—Steele with the rune book, Ronan checking weapons, Niz and Gabe reviewing aerial plans, and Bastian staring off into the fire.
I sat at the entrance of our tent, tucked between the central command tent and the slope leading toward the upper ridge of the camp. Inside, six cots lined the walls—blankets neatly folded, a single lantern casting a golden, warm glow.
Through the trees, Alfemir’s skyline shimmered faintly.
At least the evacuations were going well.
Messages came in bursts—families and healers reaching the caverns, the wyvern’s hidden kingdom turning into a sanctuary for angels who hadn’t even known it existed days ago. It should have brought relief. It didn’t, not fully.
The camp moved with quiet efficiency, everyone doing what they could to prepare to hold the line against the inevitable. I listened to the muffled hum of activity, but the silence betweenit all felt heavier than the noise itself. Eventually, I stood. Sitting wasn’t helping and I was too wired to sleep.
“Just going on a walk!” I called toward the others. I didn’t wait for a reply, simply hoping they’d understand. No doubt I was doing a shit job hiding the panic clawing at me.
Outside, torchlight flickered between tents, casting shifting light across alert faces and half-packed gear. The perimeter wards that the Casters had put up glowed faintly through the trees. I walked until time slipped away, even drifting through the wards once.
By the time I returned to the ridge from earlier that afternoon, the encampment had quieted. Only the deep groan of trees shifting in the wind and the rough snorts of tethered beasts in the distance filled the air. I leaned against a tree, watching the tents below.
“Beauty, I’m surprised you’re still awake…I can feel how tired you are.” Ronan’s voice came from behind me as he stepped out from the trees.
“I am,” I said, breath fogging the air, but not turning to fully face him. “But if I stop thinking, I start feeling, and that’s far worse.”
He came closer, silent steps on the damp earth, until I could feel the warmth of his large muscular frame. “You don’t have to figure it all out tonight.”
“I do, though… Everyone's counting on us to make this happen, to make sure we defeat the triad. If I’m not focused on that, I don’t even know what else tobefocused on.”
“Start with this,” he murmured, his arm slipping around my waist. “Just breathe.”
Ronan’s chest moved with mine, steady and grounding. The world kept turning, but it softened around the edges, my sense of overwhelm easing just enough to breathe. This wasn’t the firsttime he—or the others—had pulled me back in the last twenty-four hours.
“You see?” he said quietly. “Still here.”
I turned just enough to see his profile in the dark. “For now.”
Something flickered in his expression. Our bond pulsed—pain and knowing tangled in the space between us. Ronan searched my face, his hand brushing along my throat. “We’re going to make it out of this,” he said, like the words themselves could shape reality.
The promise sent a shiver through me. Panic followed—sharp and sudden—at the thought of losing him, of losing any of them. Maybe it was the sight of the camp bracing for war, or the hours spent drafting plans that would always end in bloodshed, but the small space between us felt unbearable. I turned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck just as he dipped his head, giving me exactly what I needed.
A small whimper escaped me the moment his fingers tightened at my waist, pressing me back against the rough bark of the tree and pressing his mouth against mine. The contrast of his soft, persuasive mouth and the sharpness at my back made my desire burn hotter. Need surged through our bond, rising fast, and when his tongue slid against mine, a tremble shivered across my skin.
“Do you even realize what a simple kiss does to me, Kieran?” Ronan’s voice rasped against my lips. “You occupy every corner of my mind, Beauty. If I’m not with you—touching you, hearing you—I’m still thinking of you.Always.I will do whatever it takes to protect you from this.”
I knew we’d protect each other. Our whole family would. But hearing him say it made the heat in me flare into something more. A wildfire, fierce and consuming. It made me reach for him again, needing him close.
