Atlas notices.
Finn’s knee bumps mine again—but this time, he doesn’t smile.
I set my fork down.“Okay,” I say softly.“I’m ready.”
The table goes still.
Finn’s fingers tighten around his water glass.Atlas’s shoulders lock.Kael exhales the smallest breath, as if he’s been bracing the whole meal.
He nods once.
“Let’s go back to the rink.”
My heart thumps against my ribs, but I nod too.
Lunch was the last warm breath before the cold.
The last softness before the truth.
And I know—deep in my bones—that whatever Kael has to show me is going to shift the ground under all of us.
Chapter 44: Kael
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We walk Wren back intothe rink after lunch—not because we need to be here, but because it’s the one place I know we can lock a door behind us, close blinds, and speak without someone walking in.
Finn holds the door for her.Atlas hovers a step behind, ready to catch her if her knees give out.I walk ahead, clearing the path.
She doesn’t ask where we’re going.
She doesn’t ask what’s coming.
She just follows quietly, like she already knows the gravity waiting for her on the other side of the conversation.
We take the small conference room off the trainer’s wing again.Finn shuts the door.Atlas flips the lock.I pull the blinds.
