“You should rest,” Dimitri says after a while, not looking up.
“I’m fine.”
He hums, unconvinced. After he tightens the last of the bandages, he sits back on his heels. His eyes flick toward me.
He sighs and brushes a lock of hair from Serenya’s brow. “Once she’s stable enough, I’ll help you find the others. That was her goal when she came here, wasn’t it? To keep you allalive. To make sure you finish this.”
I stiffen. “And then?”
His eyes meet mine, calm and direct. “Then I take her home.”
“No.” The word comes out harsher than I mean it to, but I don’t take it back.
Dimitri raises a brow. “She needs a real healer.”
“She’s not leaving my sight.”
“You’re not exactly in any condition to protect her.”
“I don’t care. I’ll come with you.”
He stands slowly, brushing dust from his pants. “Youneedto care. And you can’t come. You need to survive the trials. She nearlydiedfor you.” His composure begins to slip, showing a hint of panic in his features. “Do you understand that? We almost lost her today! I don’t even know how she’s still breathing.” He runs a shaking hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, regaining his composure. “If you don’t stay and finish this, everything she did will meannothing.”
That makesme go still. The thought of letting her down, of her sacrifice being wasted, gnaws at something deep in my chest. My fingers curl into fists against the ground.
He studies me for a long while. Finally, he gives a small nod as if he found what he was looking for. What that is…I’m not sure. His voice is quieter now. “I think…I realized something today.”
I wait, but he doesn’t clarify.
“When I first scented your blood, I had my suspicions. But I brushed it off because of the impossibility of it. Then, after seeing the way her magic responded to yours and hearing whatthe nemoraksaid about you…I’malmostcertain now. Though I’ve never heard of this happening before, I’m not usually wrong.”
I stare at him. “What the hells are you talking about?”
Dimitri’s smirk doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t know what the goddess did or what plans the gods have for the two of you, but Phynnera did something. Mark my words.”
“You’re not making any sense,” I say slowly, bewildered.
“No,” he agrees, turning toward the door. “Not yet.”
He pauses on the threshold, silhouetted in moonlight.
“Listen to me, Koen. You need to win. More than that, you need tolive.Because she needs you. Not the others.You.”
My heart thuds once, hard. He doesn’t wait for a reply before he starts down the path, leaving the ruins behind, maybe to scout, maybe to hunt, but his parting words echo long after he leaves.
“If I’m right, you need to learn what you are, but don’t take too much time,golden boy. She’s waited long enough.”
Chapter 24
?---- Kallan (Flashback) ----?
The campfire crackles low, the smoke curling up into a night sky scattered with stars. Beyond the circle of light, the forest is a shadowed wall, quiet except for the rhythmic chirp of crickets.
I lean back against a fallen log, arms folded, watching the others with a small smile. Serenya sits cross-legged next to me, her white hair falling forward as she concentrates on making a thin curl of shadow in her palm—a trick she claims is “just for fun.”
“Careful,” Dimitri drawls from across the fire, lounging as though the hard-packed ground were velvet cushions. “Last time you tried that, half my tent went missing.”
“That was your own fault for taking my caramels,” Serenya shoots back without looking up. The shadow flickers, then forms a tiny winged shape. She sends it darting across the fire toward him. Dimitri batsit away with an exaggerated flinch.
