I felt tears fill my eyes at the sight of the tree of life inside a circle that marked her. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I’m glad you did. It helped me find you. Oliver and I are honored to be marked by our future Queen.” She smirked, “Deshawn was so jealous until you made him part of the club. He even threatened to take my best friend status.”
I bumped her shoulder with mine. “That’ll never happen.” I waggled my brow. “But I bet he does give good foot rubs.”
“Girl, you have no idea!” We both started giggling.
Oliver crouched near the entrance, voice low but firm. “Get some sleep. We need to move at first light.”
I saw Kharox join him and settle down to watch over us while we rested.
The cave settled around us—warm bodies, dim firelight, the rhythmic breathing of my men, and Pantar sprawled protectively near.
Just before I drifted off to sleep, I felt Jet lie down beside me and pull me close.
I stood in the middle of a battlefield.
Not mine.
Hers.
The sky was the color of blood and lightning, torn open by magic. The air shook with the roar of creatures and steel. Bodies lay scattered across cracked earth—soldiers twisted in unnatural shapes, arrows jutting from armor, ground torn apart by power.
My heart pounded, but not in my chest.
In hers.
Lilibet’s.
Her hand clenched around a sword etched with runes that glowed when she breathed. Flames spiraled along the blade—familiar, yet older than any fire I knew how to call.
Dust gusted past. Screams. War cries—the thunderous beat of wings overhead.
And there, at her back—her Faction.
Ambrose, bloodied and staggering, lightning crackling, unstable along his arms.
Merritt, one leg limp, is defending Ambrose with impossible fury.
Bren and Zenon, slashing through enemies twice their size.
Larkin, teeth clenched, summoned earth and stone to shield them.
Five men.
Not six.
Kratos wasn’t there.
And something inside me—inside Lilibet—felt that absence like a wound.
She spun, slicing through an armored beast that roared as it split apart. Power surged through her veins, painting the world in white-hot clarity. She was unstoppable.
Until a scream ripped through the air.
Merritt.
He fell to his knees, an arrow lodged deep in his side.
