Leo sat on a fallen log, just staring at the dirt. The sun was out, but he couldn’t feel its warmth.He kept seeing Chloe’s face in his mind. The cold look in her eyes. How she pulled away from him.He rubbed his hands over his face, wishing he could wipe the whole day away.Then he heard soft footsteps in the grass. He didn’t have to look up to know that it was Liana.She stood a few steps away, her hands knotted together. She’d been crying.“Can I sit?” she asked quietly.Leo didn’t answer. He just kept staring down. She sat beside him anyway.For a long time, neither of them spoke.“This is your fault,” Leo said, his voice rough. “You made her think there was something going on with us.”Liana’s breath caught. “I didn’t mean to. I just… I miss you.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Miss me how? I don't bloody know you from Adam."“Do you really not remember me at all?”Leo was about to tell her to go. To leave him alone. But then, something changed inside him.A warmth spread throug

Leo came back to himself like waking from a bad dream you can’t shake, the kind that clings to your skin even with your eyes open.He was sitting on the same mossy log, shirt half-buttoned, cold against his chest. Grass stains smeared his jeans, the only physical proof of what had happened. His hands shook. His mouth tasted like metal and guilt.A small puddle of rainwater had collected in a dip of the ground in front of him, left by the morning’s passing shower. The surface was still, a dark, imperfect mirror. Then it rippled, not from wind, but from within. Iden looked up at him from inside the water.Same face, same eyes, but older, infinitely sadder. The face in the puddle was Leo’s face etched with lines of grief and years he hadn’t lived. Like a man who had carried too much for too long and forgot how to put it down.“I’m sorry,” Iden said, his voice soft, woven from the rustle of leaves and the drip from the branches, coming from everywhere and nowhere.Leo didn’t answer. He st

The sun was already too hot. It didn’t feel like morning light. It felt like a punishment.They’d all picked the arena to meet. In the daylight, it just looked sad. Just a flat circle of hard red dirt. Old logs for seats, stained dark from years of use. A few posts, wrapped in rope, leaned like they were tired of standing up. Flies buzzed. A crow shouted from the trees—a harsh, nasty sound. Like it was laughing at them.Elias was there first. He sat on the biggest log, sharpening his knife. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. The sound was steady, like clockwork. He didn’t look up at anyone.Rowan stood nearby, leaning on a post. He chewed on a piece of dry grass. His eyes moved around the circle. Looking at everyone, checking their faces. Keeping score, maybe.Leo sat by himself, away from everything and everyone.He was on the far side, elbows on his knees, staring at the ground. Like he was trying to burn a hole in the dirt with his eyes. He hadn’t changed his clothes. His shirt was rumpled, g

All the while they were talking, they didn't notice she was there. Liana had moved like a shadow. While their backs were turned, while everyone was watching Leo and Chloe walk to the trees, she’d slipped from her log. She moved quietly, quickly, over to the big oak tree. It was twenty feet from where they stood under the pine. Far enough to be hidden. Close enough to hear every single, ugly word.She listened. Her back pressed against the rough bark.She heard Leo say it wasn’t me.She heard Chloe’s flat,hurt voice.She heard the plan.The agreement. Get out of my body for good.Her face changed as she listened. First, it went pale, all the blood draining away. Then a hot, blotchy red flushed up her neck and cheeks. Finally, it settled into a cold, bloodless white. Her hands, hanging at her sides, slowly curled into fists.“So that’s it?” she whispered to the empty air. Her voice trembled, but not from tears. From a rage so deep it felt like ice in her veins. “After everything I did?

On one side of the clearing, Rowan picked up two wooden swords. They were practice swords. Heavy and blunt. He tossed one to Leo.Leo caught it. It was heavier than he thought. It almost pulled him over."First lesson," Rowan said. He wasn't smiling now. "Your feet. Where you put them. That is more important than your hands."He showed Leo a stance. Feet apart. Knees bent. "Like this. You are a tree. You are rooted. No one can push you over."Leo tried to copy him. He looked wobbly."Bend your knees more," Rowan said. He poked Leo's leg with his own sword. "You are not standing at a bus stop. You are waiting for a fight."Over on the other side, it was different.Liana walked to a clear spot. Chloe followed her, moving slowly."We will start simple," Liana said. Her voice was cool. Empty. "I will show you how to block a punch. Then you will try."She didn't wait. She got into a stance. "Watch my arms. Watch how I move."Chloe watched. She tried to copy the stance. She looked unsure."