Why the fuck were the stars fallingnow?
“Kieran.”
Steele’s voice cut through the noise. I turned, and he was right in front of me, his hand gripping my jaw to hold myattention as my eyes began to prick with overwhelmed tears. His eyes were steady now—the panic I could feel through our bond buried beneath his discipline.
“We need to make the rune, Princess,” he said, his voice rough but controlled. “Now, before they crash down and decimate everything and everyone.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. The air shimmered between us, warping the edges of his face. Another strike from a Dominion shook the world around us. I stumbled, and he caught my arm, pulling me upright and against him. I could feel the power inside me shifting—alive, restless, and aware that the stars were close. Too close.
Horror and shock flooded me, an overwhelming surge of panic threatening to drown everything else. They were falling—the stars wereactuallyfalling. In the middle of the fucking battle we were already fighting against the triad.
I began to fully hyperventilate at the thought. Nothing could have prepared us for this. I wasn’t ready.Weweren’t ready.
The thought of all the souls I’d come to love being wiped out by the triads or stars hit me all at once, and my legs trembled.
“Stay with me, Kieran,” Steele said, louder this time. “I need you to focus, Princess.”
I nodded, but the world was already tilting, my knees weakening. The confidence I’d carried into this battle, my ability to lead, paled against the reality of the prophecy hanging—quite literally—over our heads.
“We have to head to the castle,” Gabe said from next to me, his voice grounded and commanding. “It’s a short flight if we can get in the air safely. The castle courtyard is clear; we warded it as an emergency fallback in case the outer lines were overrun. It’s the only space secure enough for you to work on the rune.”
I came out of my stupor at the thought of having to leave everyone behind to do that. Panic clawed at my throat as my eyes widened. “The soldiers, our units, I have to?—”
“What you have to do, Kieran,” Gabe said, cutting through my protest, “is stop the stars from falling. Let our forces fight. Let them hold the line. You and Steele are theonlytwo who can end this—the only two who can save us. Otherwise it’s all for nothing.”
It was a sobering truth that helped provide a thread of clarity to the mess of my mind. I could lose my composure and condemn us all to certain death, or I could keep fighting the only way I knew how: one step at a time.
Every instinct screamed to stay, to keep fighting beside our units, but the logic was clear. Steele’s rune and my power were our only chance to stop this.
Get your shit together, Kieran.
With a nod from me, we ran toward the castle and alerted the others to our plan through the bond. The air was too dangerous to fly until we cleared the first few streets, narrowly avoiding Dominions weaving between collapsed structures and the ones hovering low above the ground. We pushed faster, sprinting through the narrow avenues that led toward the castle.
“Take to the air now,” Steele ordered.
We launched together, three sets of black wings cutting through the dark sky. The updraft from the smoldering buildings hit hard, sparks stinging against my skin as we climbed higher into the chaos of the aerial battlefield.
My gaze locked on two points at once: Bastian hanging in the air, surrounded as the Dominions dove for him in a frenzy, our forces driving them back with everything they had; and the Seraphim caged in crimson, their furious roars tearing through the sky like thunder.
My heart lurched in my chest, but Bash roared through the bond to me.“Don’t you dare worry about us. Focus on those stars, Darling. Promise me.”
We couldn’t ignore the descending balls of energy carving down from the sky.
“You fight with everything you fucking have! We’ve got this covered.”Niz roared.
Tears welled up once more at the love and trust flowing through the bond and in their words. I reached up to brush the ones I allowed to fall away as Ronan’s gruff voice came next.
“This isn’t over until it’s over. Don’t give up now, Kieran. These are the moments that change history.”
With a shaky breath, I focused on their strength and words, shooting back my love through the bond to all of my mates at once.“I love you all. I’m not ready to give up on forever together just yet.”
“Almost there,” Steele said, pulling out the runic dagger he’d need to start. “We land and I’ll start trying immediately. Gabe, don’t let any of the other forces get close. Fly the perimeter and make sure nothing interferes.”
Through the haze, the castle’s courtyard came into view, glowing softly beneath the wards we’d set, waiting.
“I will ensure it,” Gabe confirmed before shooting off to the side to begin his sweep.
The moment our boots hit stone, I looked to Steele to see where he wanted to work, but I didn’t get the chance to ask. A pulse of power hit me, stronger and more violent than anything I’ve ever experienced before. It was a force that rolled through the surrounding area, cobblestone cracking in waves that rippled outward from me like a detonation.
