Eryn and Aria were the only two people in the living room, and Eryn couldn't figure out why everyone else had left him alone with Aria. She was currently staring at him intensely, which eventually made him feel irritated "Can you stop looking at me?" Eryn said, feeling annoyed. "But I can't help it! There's just something about you," Aria replied cheerfully, causing Eryn to groan. "Could you at least do it from a distance? You're sitting way too close," he said, noticing how near she was. Aria seemed almost attached to his side, leaving barely any space between them, as if trying to respect his personal space—even though it didn’t really work. "Oh, I'll move if you talk to me nicely," Aria responded. Eryn sighed in frustration. "Seriously, what do you want?" he finally asked. "I'm glad you asked!" Aria said excitedly before continuing, "Have you ever been in a relationship?" "No," Eryn answered shortly. "Okay, are you in one now?" she questioned. "No," Eryn replied again. "D

"Hey, she still isn't talking to you," Kael said as he walked over to Eryn, who was sitting on a bench in the backyard. Eryn let out a sigh and responded, "No, I have tried to apologize to her, but she won’t even listen to me." "What you said was really terrible, so you can’t blame her," Kael pointed out. He looked at Eryn and added, "I know she can be annoying sometimes—I’ve dealt with that for a long time—but she’s actually really nice. I’m not saying you have to like her back or anything, but you could be friends with her. If you tell her you just want to be friends, she’ll respect that." "Alright, I’ll try talking to her again," Eryn replied. "Okay, that was the nicest thing I’ve ever said about her! I have goosebumps; I’m never doing that again," Kael joked, making Eryn laugh. After their training session that evening, everyone gathered in the living room looking tired. "I’m so proud of you all! You’re doing great with your training and deserve these gifts," Terrakaiya said

The words hung in the air like frost. “Someone placed a tracking spell on you.” Eryn stared at Terrakaiya. The little girl no not little. He kept forgetting she wasn’t actually a child — had her small hands still glowing faintly, like she’d just pulled the magic out of his skin.“A tracking spell?” Aria repeated. Her voice was flat, but Eryn heard the edge underneath. “Since when?”“Since you met her,” Terrakaiya said, nodding toward the door. Toward the café. Toward Sophia. “The magic is old. Faint. But it’s there, wrapped around your aura like thread.”Eryn’s stomach dropped. Sophia. Years of friendship. Late-night study sessions. The person he’d called the moment his life started falling apart. No. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.But the doubt had already been planted, and Terrakaiya didn’t lie.Kael broke the silence first. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes sharp like he’d already been thinking three steps ahead. “If there’s a tracker, then they know where we are.

The crack started small. A thin line of white light, no wider than a hair, running across the shield over the backyard. Terrakaiya saw it first. She was floating on her back, supposedly “resting,” but her eyes never fully closed.“There,” she said, pointing. “It’s fraying.”All four of them stopped training instantly. Kael swore. Aria dropped the rock she’d been trying to transport through her portalsl. Lyra’s brick wall in her mind shattered and she gasped like she’d been punched. Eryn’s spoon clattered to the grass.“How bad?” Kael asked. He was already walking to the edge of the yard, eyes scanning the air like he could see the damage.“Bad enough,” Terrakaiya said. She floated up, pressed both small hands to the crack. Her glow flared, and the line sealed for two seconds before splitting again, wider this time. “They’re pushing. Testing the same spot over and over. They found the weak point.”Eryn stared at it. The tracker under his skin pulsed in time with the crack. Every time

Eryn didn’t sleep. He couldn’t. The symbol on his arm itched like it had teeth. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw brick walls. No windows. Cold air. Sophia’s empty eyes.Around 3am the itch turned to fire.He sat up gasping, clutching his arm. The loop in the symbol was almost closed now. Just a tiny gap left. And it was shrinking, millimeter by millimeter, like someone was pulling a string tight from the other side.“Eryn?” Aria was awake instantly. . She was at his side before he could answer.“It’s closing,” he gritted out. Sweat on his forehead. “The loop. It’s almost—”The gap snapped shut.White light exploded behind his eyes. Not from the room. From his arm. From the tracker.Eryn wasn’t in Aria’s house anymore. He was back in the brick room. No windows. Buzzing lights. Cold that got into his bones.And Sophia was there. Same sweater. Same hair. Wrong eyes.She wasn’t alone this time.There was a shadow behind her. Tall. Too tall. It didn’t have a face. Just a shape, darke