ay back home, giggling between bites of their favorite pastries.The cobblestone path shimmered fain

matically, "if I see you eat one mo

aky treasure like it was sacred. "This is the food of the

g behind her eyes-barely noticeable, but Elira caught

said lightly, brushing a crumb off her

e bakery ran out last winter," Liana tease

very much," Seraphine shot back, thou

thing. She knew Seraphine well en

ows and the air smelled like thyme and smoke. One by one, they peeled off-Sera

over her shoulder. "Don't fall in love wi

she stepped through the garden ga

h, shawl pulled tight against the

re Elira could even clo

hed. "Not

ra into the kitchen. The kettle was already hot, t

her mother said gently. "It didn't feel like a sp

ken," Elira mutte

The Goddess

hine'

rushing her hair out in slow strokes. The mirror reflected

d

op thinking abo

s just waiting for

rs paused

little visions" weren

rteen. Sitting by the riverbank. Liana had gone q

But it won't be gone forever. When you find

a week later-wedged into a book in the library. And when they went to return it, her mother b

ed it off then. Cal

toni

ung to her li

stories weren'

boots grounded her, but everything e

f

, but it whispered her name in a

he house in front of her-the same one she'd lived in all her life-l

th. She ste

a flicker of movement in her

igu

a whisper or shadow behind

and

re all day. The years had carved more into his face than time alone coul

knew

t from

dre

man who walked through the ruins in her nightmares. The man who whispered in broken propheci

ood ra

de?" she

t, saying his name out

Didn't move close

slowly. "On

were allowed to

ht of a bond not forged by blood, but by fate.

spered. "They weren't

now. "They belong to her.

li

aths are shifting. Your role in her story... it's not p

ch. The candle in the lantern bes

, but not fr

irytales-my visi

n anything you

step back. "I'm n

ntly. "The threads are

him-a memory? A shadow? She blinked an

Queen does not rest on

furrowed. "Wha

n't rest on her shoulders alone,

. "Then where

ward, gaze fierc

at p

ha

trength. Her tether. She cannot rise without you...

undered ar

ut cracked, tremblin

She staggered back, barely making it

d?" Her voice came out choked, half-wind,

er with heavy eyes. Eyes that no longer held the simple

. Something crac

not maki

. The way your bones howl when she's hurting. That isn't friendshi

ance between them too wide for what he w

art st

she wh

d down her spine like

re ly

. The last clan whose wolves walked in human flesh-free-willed, bound only by soulm

law-" Her br

u shared with your human counterparts. Two souls, one fate. No

vision

said. "And the Aetherclaw? They led the charge. Your death-or so t

me? Why wa

n from Elira when she was still in her mother's womb. They wanted her weak. V

ived. You found your way back to her, Liana. Even wi

nct to protect Elira. The way her body burned when Elira

never j

s des

eks as the weight of it all cr

the Nightborne's last spark. The balance keeper. A

d wrapping around her like

more wondering if her v

y d

orld wasn