The morning air was sharp against Elias’s skin as he stepped out onto the balcony, the city sprawled beneath him in a mixture of stone and smoke, remnants of last night’s chaos still smoldering in the alleyways. He didn’t speak; he didn’t need to. The weight of the seal in his hand was a constant reminder of what had happened, of the power that now tethered him to the Ardent Heir. Seven days. Seven days to prepare, to understand, to survive.Rhea joined him silently, her presence steady, grounding. She rested her hands on the balcony railing, her eyes scanning the horizon with the sort of intensity Elias had come to rely on. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” she asked finally, voice low. “About the second relic, about the destruction he promised?”Elias didn’t answer immediately. His mind replayed the way the Heir had moved, how he had struck and then vanished. There was a precision, a calm authority in his actions that Elias couldn’t ignore. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I k

The hills were darker now, touched by the first shadows of night. Crickets hummed low in the brush, and a long, cool breeze slid between the trees, tugging at Elias’s coat as he pressed forward. The faint glow of the relic’s energy flickered against his ribs like a heartbeat out of sync with his own. Ahead, the ritual platform pulsed brighter than it had an hour ago, a quiet warning that time was collapsing around them faster than expected.Rhea crouched behind a cluster of rocks, her breath steady, eyes fixed on the encampment below. Cassian knelt beside her, scanning the area with a portable device patched to their internal network. His brows furrowed. “Their energy signatures are off the charts now,” he muttered. “Whatever they’re doing, they’re accelerating it.”“Which means we’re almost too late,” Elias whispered. “We move slow. No breaking formation. We stay within arm’s reach of one another. We get the readings, confirm the relic, then pull back.”Rhea nodded once. Cassian did

Elias stood at the edge of the rooftop, the wind tugging at his coat, tugging at his thoughts. The city below was quiet, but he knew better. Quiet was never safe. Not with Mara maneuvering, not with Victor still at large, and certainly not with the Heir now actively manipulating the relics. Every movement, every shadow could conceal a threat. Every second that passed was another step closer to disaster.He checked the seal beneath his coat. Its faint pulse matched the rhythm of his own heartbeat, steady but insistent, almost like a silent warning. He had felt its pull before, in the hills, during the attunement, but now it felt sharper, more urgent. It was calling him—demanding he act, demanding he move forward even when every instinct screamed caution.“Time is not waiting,” he muttered, mostly to himself. He glanced over the edge of the building, scanning the streets below for any unusual activity. Everything seemed normal. Too normal. That only heightened his suspicion.A soft beep

Elias woke before the alarms sounded.He didn’t remember falling asleep. One moment he’d been sitting on the edge of the cot in Lira’s underground safehouse, leaning forward to catch his breath, and the next his eyes had snapped open to the faint thrum of relic energy pulsing in the air like a warning. The room was dim—steel walls, low ceiling, maps scattered across a nearby desk—but something felt different. Sharper. More alert.He pushed himself upright, stretching the stiffness from his shoulders. The seal on his chest gave a slow, steady pulse, warm but not invasive. Nothing like the violent surge he fought the night before.Rhea was already awake, sitting across the room with her back against the wall. She had her knees drawn up and her arms draped loosely over them. Her eyes were half-open, studying him even before she spoke.“You didn’t sleep long,” she murmured.Elias ran a hand through his hair. “Didn’t feel like I needed to.”“Or couldn’t,” she said, reading him too easily.

The storm broke just before dawn.A low growl of thunder rolled across the estate grounds as Elias pushed open the front doors. Cold air rushed in, carrying the metallic smell of rain and damp earth. The morning sky was still dark, clouds layered thick like bruises. He stepped onto the stone steps, pulled his hood tighter, and scanned the perimeter.Guards were already moving—quiet, alert, unsettled.Good. They felt it too.Behind him, footsteps echoed lightly. Mara slid her hands into the pockets of her jacket and joined him under the overhang.“You didn’t sleep,” she said.“Did you?” Elias shot back.She snorted. “Barely. I kept hearing things.”Elias glanced sideways. “Things, or your paranoia?”“Both,” she admitted. “The weather makes the forest louder. And after everything that’s happened… yeah, I’m jumpy.”Elias didn’t tease her for it. He couldn’t. He understood too well.Mara looked at him fully now. “What’s our next move?”Elias exhaled, breath fogging in the air. “We gather