But I didn’t know what all that meant. Was he still Shadowick’s?
I remember the look in his eyes before he left. It was as if Stonewick held something that rightfully belonged to him, and he was just helping us out until it was his time to retrieve it.
But he hadn’t sounded like a man chasing power. He had sounded like someone reclaiming an inheritance.
And the Priestess—
She never wanted just one thing.
She wanted more.
More territory. More influence. More claim over bloodlines and boundaries.
If the orcs cracked under impatience… if the shifters began to question leadership… she wouldn’t need to strike.
She would simply gather what fell. She’d thrive on the division and gain more power purely off others’ actions.
Keegan felt the shift in me immediately. “Where’d your thoughts take you?”
“Gideon,” I confessed, and I saw his jaw tighten slightly.
“He seemed certain,” I added. “About something we have.”
“Certainty doesn’t make him right.” He shrugged. “I can’t imagine anything the Academy has that is rightfully his.”
“No,” I said. “But it makes him dangerous.”
The trees thinned ahead, and the Academy came into view. Nova chose to stay in the Wilds with the shifters, and Ardetia moved toward the last of the gardens.
The stone archway caught the afternoon light as we walked around to the front of the building.
Relief moved through me quietly as I spotted the bramblemule grazing along the edge of the herb gardens, tearing lazily at thorned brush before they retreated for the season.
When we made it out front, a cluster of returning students sat on benches, laughing over exaggerated summer mishaps.
It looked normal.
It felt good.
It felt almost too peaceful.
Keegan followed my gaze.
“Calm, isn’t it?” I glanced toward the Butterfly Ward before we started toward the steps.
“You’re thinking it won’t stay this way.”
“Yes.”
He stepped a fraction closer as we crossed onto the stone, and he grabbed my hand.
“Whatever fractures,” he said quietly, “we handle it together.”
I smiled and nodded becausethatI didn’t question.
The Academy hummed beneath my boots, steady and warm.
And somewhere beyond the ridge, something was still marching toward the orcs, and I just hoped it wasn’t marching toward a crack we hadn’t seen yet.
