A deep, resonant thrum rolls through the Barrow, through the cliffs, through the distant forges and the Ember Vein itself.
Not a cheer.
Not celebration.
A settling.
Like a mountain finally choosing to stand.
When it’s done, the hall is quiet again.
My brothers look… lighter. Not unburdened. Never that.
But no longer alone.
I turn my head slightly and meet Oona’s eyes.
There is soot still under her nails. There is exhaustion in the set of her shoulders.
And there is something else—steel. Home. Choice.
Nightfall has peace for the first time in too long.
And we will keep it.
Not with one Prime.
But with four.
With our mates beside us.
And each other to lean on when the ground tries to break again.
Chapter 31
Alina
The Barrow
It’s quiet in the way a living thing gets quiet when it finally believes the danger has passed.
Not empty. Not asleep.
Like the castle is just settled.
The roots in the walls hum low, like a lullaby the earth sings to itself. The air is cool tonight, carrying that clean, mineral scent I’m starting to associate with safety—stone after rain, damp moss, the faintest trace of smoke from the distant pyres that are finally done.
I’m in Dagan’s bed.
Our bed.
That thought still hits me sideways sometimes.
I lie on my side with my cheek pressed to his chest, listening to the slow, steady beat beneath all that muscle and power.
He’s on his back, one arm curved around me like a boundary line, the other resting on my hip as if he’s afraid I’ll slip away through the cracks if he doesn’t keep contact.
I drag my fingertips over the Crown piece at his throat—warm, always warm—and feel the answering pulse in my blood.
