I glance around. The others are already in motion.
"Come on," Gray says, his voice quieter than usual. "Let's see what we're dealing with."
No one asks if we should.
We just go.
The hallway stretches ahead of us as we move toward the front of the sanctuary. Theo appears from somewhere behind us, slightly out of breath.
"Where were you?" Jace asks, falling into step beside him.
"Went out the back," Theo says, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Thought I heard something. Didn't see anything, though."
"Following Stellan and Thane?" Jace's tone carries just enough knowing edge to make Theo flush slightly.
"Just... checking," Theo mutters.
I catch Wes's expression as we walk—something restless in the set of his shoulders, the way his eyes keep darting between the front door and back toward where Theo came from. Like he's caught between wanting to know what happened and being afraid of the answer.
There's something different about him lately. More... awake, somehow. Like he's been sleepwalking for years and is finally starting to stir. I want to ask him about it, but the front door is already in sight.
The front door opens to something that steals my breath completely.
The sanctuary grounds stretch out in gentle slopes of pale stone and flowering trees, beautiful in the morning light. But the beauty isn't what stops me cold.
It's the people.
Mairen wasn't kidding.
They cover the lawn like a sea of stillness—maybe a hundred, maybe more. Men and women of every age, standing in loose clusters or sitting on the grass. Some look like they've been traveling for days. Others seem like they just stepped out of normal lives and found themselves here.
But they're all looking at me.
The moment we step fully into view, the entire crowd drops to their knees.
Not quickly. Not dramatically. Just... naturally. Like breathing. Like they've been waiting for this exact moment their entire lives.
The silence is so complete I can hear my own heartbeat.
"Holy shit," Jace breathes beside me.
I can't move. Can't speak. The weight of a hundred pairs of eyes, all focused on me with something that looks like reverence, presses down until I can barely breathe.
"I didn't ask for this," I whisper.
The mist starts to curl around my ankles—not thick or dramatic, just a whisper of silver that moves as if it's trying to comfort me in response tomy panic. But even that small movement draws murmurs from the crowd. Awe. Recognition.
Rhett positions himself slightly in front of me, protective instincts kicking in. Gray hangs back but I can feel his attention like a weight. Wes looks pale, his jaw tight with something that might be fear.
Theo, though. Theo is smiling. Just slightly. Like he's been expecting this.
"You knew," I say, not really a question.
"I had... an idea," he admits. "The visions have been getting stronger. More specific. People on roads, all moving toward the same place."
"And you didn't think to mention it?"
"Would it have changed anything?" His voice is gentle. "Would you have been more ready if you'd known?"
