Oren turned back to the entrance. “He’s hiding something. Maybe a lot of somethings. And you’re right—he’s waiting for her to change. To become something else.”
I swallowed, “You think he knows what’s happening?”
“I think he has an idea, but I doubt he knows the whole truth.”
My stomach twisted.
“You trust him to have her best interests in mind?”
Oren snorted. “Fuck no. I barely tolerate him.” He shifted his weight, shadows curling around his hands like smoke. “We watch him. We stay between him and her. And if he tries anything—” Lightning crackled across his knuckles, sharp and silent. “We end him.”
I didn’t smile. But something in my chest loosened.
“Good,” I said. “Because I’m not letting anyone—anyone—take her away again.”
Oren nodded once. “Get some sleep. You look like death.”
“I should look satisfied.”
“That too, you lucky bastard.”
We didn’t laugh, but the tension in the air eased slightly.
We kept watch together—silent, alert, a united wall of teeth and magic and fury.
Torren might be playing a long game, but he better watch out; Reverie didn’t only have one protector.
She hadfive—more than that with the inclusion of Pantar, Kharox, Chloe, and her men.
And every one of us was willing to burn the world to keep her safe.
Chapter 26
Reverie
The forest thinned as we neared the ridge.
The air grew colder, sharper. Even the birds had gone silent.
Torren lifted a hand to halt us. “The portal’s less than half a mile ahead. Stay sharp.”
None of us needed the reminder. After everything that had happened, trust was a fragile thing. Even the silence felt threatening here.
Zane’s fire flickered over his fingertips as he scanned the trees. “I don’t like this quiet.”
Pantar’s low growl rolled through the air, deep enough to make the ground hum.“Something comes.”
Oren turned, electricity and shadows dancing faintly at his fingertips. “Where?”
Before Pantar could respond, an arrow hissed through the air and embedded itself in the ground between us.
Kharox placed himself directly in front of me, teeth bared.
Nathan flared with fire instantly. “Ambush!”
“Hold!” The voice came from the tree line—a deep, commanding shout with a hint of desperation behind it.
A man stepped into view, hands raised, blond hair catching sunlight like a halo of gold. He wasn’t much older than thirty—fit, battle-scarred, eyes bright and alert, but shadowed with something that looked like guilt.
