“NO!” Lilibet’s voice roared out of my mouth, power shaking the ground around her.
Ambrose caught Merritt before he collapsed fully, lightning flickered uselessly across his skin—his ability was gone, drained from battle or blood loss. Their eyes met, raw and terrified.
Zenon and Larkin rushed to cover them, blades flashing, but too many enemies surged forward.
Lilibet’s hands burned—light exploding from her palms—magic tearing upward like a detonation. The ground cracked open in a shockwave, and bodies flung into the air.
Her breath heaved, vision shaking, but she reached for Merritt. “Merritt, stay with me. Stay with me!”
His hand came up, trembling, stained in his own blood. “I’m here, My Queen.”
But his voice flickered like it was fading.
Behind us—behind her—I could feel it: Kratos should have been there.
He wasn’t.
The hole his absence left was jagged and wrong.
Lilibet’s heart broke with that realization. Not because she thought he was dead, but because she could feel him alive… and separated from them.
Ambrose looked up at her, desperate. “He can’t hold on much longer.”
Merritt’s breath hitched. Blood soaked his armor. “It’s… alright. You have to protect them.”
“NO,” Lilibet cried, voice cracking into something feral. “I will not bury another one of you!”
Fire erupted from her hand, searing the arrow to ash. Her ability poured into him—healing, stitching flesh, forcing his heart to keep beating. Her power was fury and love and refusal to let fate steal him.
Merritt screamed, but his eyes stayed open.
He lived.
Barely.
Lilibet lifted her head, tears cutting through ash on her cheeks, and whispered, “Where are you, Kratos?”
But the battlefield only answered with thunder.
Her scream of rage ripped me awake.
I shot up in the cave, heart racing, breath shattered into pieces.
Jet stirred beside me, his hand reaching for me instinctively.
“Reverie? Angel—hey, what happened?”
But I couldn’t answer, still feeling the echo of another woman’s grief in my chest.
Still hearing Lilibet’s voice.
“Where are you, Kratos?”
And deep in the cave’s entrance, Kharox lifted his head, ears pricked—because he heard it too.
It felt like I’d only been back asleep for a few minutes when I felt Jet shake me gently awake. “Can we talk for a minute? I found a private spot deeper inside.”
I rubbed a hand across my face, trying to wake up. “Of course.”
