Chapter 103
*Nathaniel*
I spotted them before they saw me.
A flicker of movement through the trees, the gleam of steel strapped to a shoulder, the way Maximus stood half turned as if expecting ambush even in a quiet grove Always alert. Always coiled, like he never learned how to rest.
Ethan Johal was next to him, and beside Ethan–slim, steady, but walking withoutmp now–was Eva.
They had made it.
The moment felt too quiet for what it was. I hadn’t seen Ethan since the mountain fell. Since Jiselle disappeared. Since everything we were shattered beneath a collapsing world and a screaming prophecy.
I stepped through the brush.
Ethan’s head snapped up.
And for a heartbeat, neither of us moved.
Then he crossed the space between us in three quick strides and slammed into me with a grip so fierce it knocked the breath out of my chest.
“Damn it,” he muttered, clutching the back of my shoulders. “You’re alive.”
“Barely,” I managed. “You too.”
He pulled back and gave me the lopsided grin I remembered from the academy–the one that only surfaced when something heavy lifted from his chest.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you, Morningstar.”
The nickname hit me harder than I expected.
“And you, Johal.”
Eva stepped forward next, quieter, her expression unreadable. But there was no hesitation in her eyes–only something soft and knowing. She looked different than the last time I saw her. Less breakable. Stronger.
“Eva,” I said.
She gave me a look that balanced relief with exhaustion. “Don’t get sentimental. I’m not healed enough for it.”
“I don’t know,” I said, letting out a breath. “You’re walking. That’s enough to make me cry.”
She gave me a rare smile, and for a second, it felt like we were just four kids again–two wolves, two warriors, standing on the edge of some mock battle we’d pretend was life or death.
And then Maximus Laker stepped forward.
He didn’t smile.
Didn’t extend a hand.
He didn’t need to.
“Nathaniel,” he said.
“Maximus,” I replied, inclining my head once.
“Still breathing, I see.”
“For now.”
There was a moment–just one–where the forest felt like it might fracture from the tension between us. But it passed, like most things between us did, without blood.
“I assume you’re not just wandering through these woods for exercise,” he added, folding his arms.
“I found the leyline. I felt her.”
All three of them went still.
Ethan stepped forward again, his voice low. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Not just residue. Not just old magic. It was her. I saw her–through flame. She spoke.”
Eva inhaled sharply. “What did she say?”
“She said not to forget her.”
Maximus looked away first, eyes narrowing toward the distance. “That doesn’t sound like someone in control.”
“She wasn’t,” I said. “Not completely. But she wasn’t gone either. There was something in her voice. Like she’s still fighting.”
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Chapter 103
Ethan nodded slowly, though a shadow passed behind his gaze.
“You okay?” I asked him, quietly.
He gave a half shrug. “Better now that I know she’s alive.”
There was more behind that answer
He didn’t say it
So I did.
“You feel guilty.”
His jaw tightened.
“I stayed behind,” he said, voice thick. “To help Eva. To regroup. I thought we’d go after Jiselle together, and then time just-
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“She’s my sister, Nate.” His voice cracked. “And I let her go.”
“You stayed to help someone who would’ve died without you,” I said, “Jiselle would’ve done the same.”
He dropped his eyes. “I just keep thinking… what if I’d gone sooner?”
“You would’ve died,” Maximus cut in, voice sharp. “Or worse, been taken with her. And then we’d have no way to get her back.”
Ethan didn’t respond.
But he didn’t argue either.
“I’ve followed the leyline for three days,” I said. “Every night the scar burns hotter. It’s not the bond anymore. That’s dead. But something is… changing.”
Maximus stepped forward. “You think she’s evolving.”
“I think she’s on the edge of something,” I said. “And she doesn’t know which way to fall.”
Eva finally spoke again. “I didn’t want to tell you before, but… while I was out–when I was in the coma–I saw her. Not her body. Her soul.”
My spine stiffened.
“She stood in a space I couldn’t name. Two paths stretched out in front of her. One was ash. The other… light. But she didn‘ t choose either.”
“She stood still?” Ethan asked.
“No.” Eva looked at me. “She burned the ground beneath her feet. She’s trying to make her own path.”
Silence fell. Heavy. Electric.
“I need to get to her,” I said finally. “Before someone else decides for her.”
Maximus stepped toward me. “You really think you can save her, Morningstar?”
“I know I have to try.”
“And if it’s too late?”
I met his gaze without blinking.
“Then I won’t let her burn alone.”
Something shifted in Maximus’s expression. He didn’t soften–but he stepped back.
“You’re still reckless as hell,” he muttered.
“And you’re still insufferable.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he looked away before I could see more.
Ethan clapped a hand on my shoulder again. “So what now?”
“Now we plan,” I said. “Kael’s building something. A throne. An army. A prophecy. And Jiselle’s at the center of it.”
“She’s more than a prophecy,” Eva said.
I nodded. “I know.”
We stood together in the twilight, four people broken and reassembled too many times. We didn’t feel like a pack. Not yet.
But we felt like a cause.
A reason.
A line of fire leading back to her.
Chapter 103
And I would walk that line until the end.
