“I’m good.”
His jaw tightens, the only visible emotion he lets slip. “Good.”
He straightens and looks at the boys. “Full loadout prep by morning. We start briefing the field teams in four hours. You have until then to decompress, rest, or get whatever it is you think you’ll need.”
He doesn’t dismiss us. He just leaves.
By the time we get back to my room, I’m barely holding it together.
The door clicks shut behind Tex, and for a few long seconds, none of us speak. The quiet isn’t awkward, it’s heavy. Saturated. Like everyone’s still carrying the echo of Lucian’s words in their bones.
He’s gearing up for war.
I pull off my blazer and drop it over the back of my desk chair. My boots follow, then my tie, my hair. I tug everything loose, like peeling away armor.
The boys move around me in practiced silence.
Luca grabs a bottle of water and flops onto the couch, tossing one to Noah without looking. Tex opens the window a few inches and leans againstthe sill, staring out at nothing. Jace stands near the bookshelf, arms crossed, brow furrowed. He’s not looking at anyone, but I can feel the tension humming under his skin like a live wire.
Noah’s the one who finally speaks. “So. Full-time training.”
“They’re squaring it with the school,” Jace says. “We’ll stay enrolled. Get credits. But Guild training takes priority now.”
I sit on the edge of my bed. “What does that even look like?”
“Six to eight hours a day minimum,” Noah replies. “Field simulations. Combat. Tech interface. Tactical theory. Debrief and prep rotations. Only one rest day. Until further notice.”
Luca groans. “Goodbye, social life. I barely knew you.”
“You didn’t have one,” Tex mutters.
“Still rude.”
I let out a breath and lean forward, elbows on my knees. “So, this is it, then. We’re… in it.”
Jace looks over, his eyes finally meeting mine. “We’ve been in it. You’re just caught up now.”
No one contradicts him. And that’s what really gets me.
Because for all their teasing and chaos and unpredictability, these four boys — my team — are already miles deep into this world. They’ve trained for it. Bled for it. Sacrificed things I can’t even name yet.
And now I’m part of that equation. No more halfway. No more pretending I’m just along for the ride.
“I don’t want to let any of you down,” I say quietly.
Noah sits beside me and nudges my knee with his. “You won’t.”
Luca leans his head back against the arm of the couch. “Honestly, you’re the only reason I haven’t gone feral yet. If anything, we should be worried about disappointing you.”
Tex grunts in agreement.
Jace doesn’t speak. But he watches me like he’s memorizing the lines of my face, like maybe if he looks hard enough, he can protect me with just that.
I nod slowly. “Okay,” I say. “Then let’s train. Let’s fight. Let’s burn his whole damn network to the ground.”
Iknow they’re thinking the same thing.
Because war is coming.
