I try to speak—to call to Seth, to scream, to doanything—but nothing comes out except a choked sound that might be his name.
The battle rages. More lights wink out. More screams cut short.
And I stand frozen, forced to watch it all burn.
Then—
Ethos stiffens.
The change is subtle—just a fraction of tension in his shoulders, a break in his perfect composure. His smirk falters.
Pain flickers across his face.
Not mine.His.
I feel it through the air, through the bound Ether—somethinghithim. Something he didn’t expect.
In the shadows, Seth’s silhouette finally moves. Light flares—or maybe sound breaks through the chaos—but I can’t see what he does.
Only Ethos’s reaction.
A sound tears from his throat—low, startled,pained.
The entire battlefield stills for a fraction of a second, like the world holding its breath.
“What—” His voice frays at the edges, no longer smooth. “What have you—”
Chapter 52
Gray
Dirt. Blood. The metallic crackle of Ether in the air.
Her scent under all of it—silver and smoke.
I drag myself forward, vision fracturing with every movement. My ribs scream. Something’s broken—maybe several somethings. The world tilts sideways, sparks of fire and Ether cutting through the haze.
One thought pulses through the static:Get to her.
I lift my head.
Bree stands twenty feet away, but she’s notstanding—she’s frozen. Eyes wide, mouth open like she’s screaming, but no sound comes out. The mist writhes around her feet, shuddering uselessly.
Marcus.
The realization hits like ice water. She can see everything. Feels every death. And she can’t move.
My hands dig into the earth, claws half-formed, dragging me forward inch by inch.
The battlefield spreads around me in ruin.
Stellan moves through the melee like a blade of night, fangs bared, every strike a promise—but even he’s slowing. Blood streaks his jaw.
Rhett lies crumpled near the fountain, barely conscious, the air still shimmering with leftover heat.
Theo and Wes—collapsed together, Theo’s eyes half-closed, Wes shielding him even though he’s bleeding from the mouth.
Thane cuts through soldiers with ruthless precision, but he’s bleeding heavily. Too many opponents. Too much ground to cover.
