"Mom made enough to feed an army." Kellan appears behind her, grinning sheepishly as he sets down a tray of drinks. "She said warriors need proper nutrition."
The mood in the room shifts, lightens. Jace immediately gravitates toward the food. Rhett's shoulders loosen slightly. Even Thane accepts a water bottle without protest.
But I keep watching Bree. The way she laughs at something Zira says. The way her posture has relaxed completely. The way the mist around her feet seems to pulse in rhythm with her heartbeat.
She didn't flinch when I touched her.
That's all the proof I need.
The Ether knows. Even if she doesn't.
And whatever comes next—whatever we're all becoming—I'm ready for it.
All of it.
Even the parts that scare me.
Chapter 32
Theo
It's time.
Chapter 33
Theo
2:50 a.m.
Gray wakes first, like I knew he would. His eyes snap open the moment I touch his shoulder, sharp and immediately alert. No confusion, no disorientation. Just focus.
"Time?" he asks, voice barely a whisper.
"Soon," I murmur back. "Get dressed."
He nods and rolls out of bed in one fluid motion, already reaching for clothes. No questions. He trusts the visions, even when I can't explain them.
Wes is bleary when I shake him awake, blinking up at me with confusion that slowly sharpens into something like concern. His dark eyes search my face, looking for answers I don't have words for yet.
"Theo?" His voice is rough with sleep. "What's happening?"
"I need you to come with me," I say quietly. "Trust me?"
He sits up, runs a hand through his curls, but he's already moving. "Always."
The simple certainty in his voice does something strange to my chest. Warm and tight all at once.
Jace mutters something under his breath that sounds like profanity when I wake him, but his tone shifts the moment he sees my expression. The joke dies on his lips, replaced by the kind of sharp attention that means he's reading the room.
"This isn't a drill, is it?" he asks, pulling on a t-shirt.
"No."
He nods once, grabs his knives from the nightstand. "Lead the way."
Rhett is already awake when I reach his door, sitting on the edge of his bed like he's been waiting. His hazel eyes find mine in the darkness, and I see the recognition there. The understanding that something's shifted.
"How long?" he asks.
