The three women walked back in silence, arms full of dry branches. The cold morning air had turned sharp, like it knew something they didn’t.When they stepped out of the trees, the clearing had changed. A wide circle of packed dirt had been swept clean. Tall wooden posts stood at the edges, wrapped in old rope. Elias and Rowan were hammering the last stake into the ground. Leo was helping, shirt stuck to his back with sweat, hair messy from work.Liana gave Chloe a long hard look before dropping her stark of sticks then walking straight to Leo.Chloe stopped dead in her track, watching her.Liana didn’t even look around. She just went up to Leo, put a hand on his arm, laughed at something he said, leaned in close like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her fingers stayed on his skin a second too long.Chloe felt heat rush up her neck.She watched Leo smile back, easy, friendly, and something inside her twisted hard.All those words in the forest: every life, he was mine, s

Chloe ran until her lungs burned and her legs gave out.She didn’t know where she was going, only that she had to get away from the picture burned behind her eyes: Leo and Liana tangled together in the grass, skin on skin, like they belonged there.She stumbled into a little hollow where three old pines grew close, dropped to her knees, and let the tears come.They weren’t quiet tears. They were loud, ugly, ripping out of her chest like something trying to claw its way free. She pressed her face into her sleeves and cried until her throat hurt and her eyes swelled.A twig snapped. Chloe looked up, eyes blurry, ready to scream at whoever it was.Victoria stood a few steps away, arms full of firewood, face calm but tired.The old woman set the wood down slow, like she was handling something breakable, and walked over.She didn’t say anything at first. Just sat on the cold ground beside Chloe and waited.Chloe wiped her face with shaking hands. “I saw them,” she finally choked out. “Le

Iden’s voice got quieter, like he was telling a secret the trees didn’t want to hear. “I woke up choking on dirt. i Thought I’d been buried alive but then I realised the hands digging me out weren’t mine. they had Longer fingers and different scars. I looked in a puddle just like this one and saw a stranger’s face staring back at me. Younger. Dark hair. Blue eyes. it was not me.” Leo swallowed. “You stole someone else’s body?” “Not stole,” Iden said fast. “It wasn’t empty. the boy, his name was Torin was dying anyway. Arrow through the lung. I just… slipped in while he slipped out. The first thing I did was run home. It took me three weeks on foot. when I found Freda, she was standing at my grave, flowers in her hair gone white from grief. She saw me (saw Torin’s face) and knew. She always knew me, no matter what skin I wore.” Leo’s stomach turned. “So she… what? Brought you back?” Iden nodded slow. “She went to the old witches in the mountains. She begged, Offered everything

The meeting had never really gotten started. Honestly, Leo didn’t think it ever would. The air itself felt wrong. Thick and hot and impossible to pull into his lungs.He couldn’t just sit. Every few seconds, his eyes would cut over to Chloe. She wasn’t looking at anyone. Her whole world seemed to be a patch of dirt between her feet. Like she was waiting for it to crack open and take her down.He couldn’t take it.He stood up, sudden. The movement made everyone jump. “Chloe.” His voice was too loud. He tried again, softer. “Can we talk? Please?”She didn’t look up. Just one quick, sharp shake of her head. No.“Five minutes,” he said, and the words came out ragged. “That’s all. I’m begging you.”Over by the main log, Victoria opened her mouth. She was gonna tell him to sit down and shut up. He could see it on her face.He didn’t let her start. “We’ll be right back,” he said, looking right at her. Not asking. Telling. “Promise.”A sigh. A long, tired sound that seemed to come from Chloe’

The clearing was quiet again. Too quiet. It was the kind of quiet that makes your ears feel funny.Victoria stood up. She walked to the middle of the circle of dirt. She looked at each of them. Her face was serious. Not angry. Just serious. Like a teacher on the first day of school."Okay," she said. Her voice was clear. It cut through the quiet. "Listen up. All of you."Leo looked up from the ground. Chloe lifted her head. Rowan stopped leaning on his post. Elias finally put his knife down. Liana sat very still, her hands in her lap."We have a problem," Victoria said. She didn't sugarcoat it. "A big one. Darwin is not gone. He is stuck. but he's till planning. he's not going to stop until he has the whole void. This is bad. This is dangerous. For Leo. For all of us."She started to walk in a slow circle. Her boots made soft sounds in the dirt."So now, we train," she said. "We do not have a choice. Leo needs to learn control. He needs to be strong. Strong enough so that Darwin canno