I push off the boards, but I keep my eyes on her as I skate backward.
And that’s when I see Kael reemerge from the hallway.
Jaw set.
Eyes dark.
Energy all wrong.
He’s found something.
He’s hiding something.
And Atlas notices too—his gaze snaps to Kael, then to Wren, then back again, like he’s connecting dots none of us can see yet.
The air shifts.
Something big is coming.
I feel it in my ribs.
In the ice.
In the way Wren tries to shrink herself smaller, as if trying to disappear.
Not a chance.
Not with the three of us watching her like predators with the same prey.
Practice starts.
But nobody’s head is in it.
Because Kael has a secret.
Atlas is vibrating with silent aggression.
Wren is barely holding herself together.
And me?
I’m realizing something ugly and terrifying:
I’m falling for her.
Fast.
Hard.
And there’s no slowing down now.
