I just had to hope it was long enough to focus on the prophecy.
I inclined my head, voice low but certain. “When that time comes to build a new order, I look forward to handling it together.”
They nodded, relief etched into their faces before their white wings unfurled. With a brush of air, they lifted from the ground and vanished into the clouds above the road.
Silence surrounded the four of us as we watched their retreat. I turned once, looking at the door and instantly thinking of every awful memory my family home held. For a long moment, I let myself feel every ounce of grief and anger. Then I breathed it out, refusing to let that drag me under.
I knew those feelings would stay with me, but I wouldn’t let them haunt me. Instead, I would allow them to drive me forward, to push me to build something better than the society my father had tried to keep intact. The hope I had for Alfemir, of what it could become, was fragile but real.
My voice was a whisper as I finally said, “Let’s go inside.”
4
KIERAN
I woketo sunlight spilling across my face.
For the first time in what felt like forever, my body didn’t ache. No lingering sting at my throat, no heavy burn through my chest with every inhale.
Just breath. Just life.
My hand drifted up instinctively, fingers grazing over the smooth skin of my neck. No scar. Not even a line to prove I’d been cut open. My breath caught as I pressed harder, as though the memory of pain should still live there, but it didn’t. It was erased, like the wound had never existed.
The wound might have vanished, but the mark it left inside me never would.
I sat up slowly, letting the blankets pool around me as I blinked at the familiar space. My childhood room, walls, and bed. For a moment, I just stared, trying to reconcile the strange blend of nostalgia and disbelief humming through me. I’d come up here and collapsed quickly last night, the exhaustion of everything slamming into me at once.
The last time I’d been in this room, I was still a girl who had no idea who she was, but brave enough to take the leap with Gabe. Reckless enough to fall and desperate enough to believethere had to be something better waiting for me. That girl hadn’t known if she’d ever make it back.
And if she had, she never would have imagined this as the result. Alfemir’s order in shambles and both parents dead.
Now I had a family I’d found, not one I was born into, and a love so deep it terrified me as much as it saved me. My chest tightened as my thoughts flicked to them, tomy men.I wanted them close. My gaze drifted toward the door, as if willing Steele and Bash to walk through it, unsure if they’d made it back yet from visiting the fallen army.
It didn’t feel right, being in separate places anymore. I wanted us whole and together. Always.
A soft knock came before the door opened. Ronan walked inside, balancing a tray on one hand with steam rising from it. Niz followed closely behind him, his broad shoulders nearly scraping the door frame.
“We brought food,” Ronan said, like the words explained the whole universe.
A soft smile tugged at my lips. Of course he did.
His eyes scanned me like he was checking for wounds I might be carefully hiding. Niz said nothing, just stalked over to the edge of the bed as Ronan set the tray on my lap. His heavy weight sank the mattress as he sat. Ronan joined him on the opposite side, and suddenly I was boxed in with both of them watching me like hawks.
I blinked at the plate of eggs and toast, then at the two of them staring. “You’re both going to sit there and…watch me eat?”
“Yes,” Niz said simply with a smirk. “I’m declaring it our new hobby.”
His voice was smooth, almost amused, but I caught the edge of something else beneath it—relief.
I snorted, a soft laugh catching in my chest. “You know that’s a little creepy, right?”
Ronan’s mouth quirked. “And hopefully a little endearing. Please just eat, Beauty.”
Rolling my eyes good-naturedly at their possessiveness, I picked up the fork and took a bite. They stayed put, silent and steady, eyes locked on me like they were making sure I didn’t vanish again. It should have been unnerving, but now only warmth spread through me. They were hovering because they cared.
When I finally scraped the plate clean, Ronan leaned back and gave me a grin. “Good girl.”
The praise hit me harder than it should have. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I ducked my head quickly. “I, uh…need a shower to get this grime off.” My voice cracked halfway through the excuse, and I pushed the tray toward Ronan, trying to ignore the way my heart still raced at two little words.
