The sky was darker than it should’ve been.
Not storm-dark, not night-dark.
But a strange kind of dimness, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Quinn felt it as they climbed out of the mountain—Jace’s arm slung protectively around his waist, Rowan curled between them in wolf form, his small body trembling with exhaustion.
Every step carried weight, not just in his limbs but in his soul.
He was whole again.
But whole didn’t mean healed.
Beside him, Jace’s silence wasn’t empty—it throbbed with things unsaid. The man who had fought fate, who had walked back into fire for them, now seemed… afraid.
“Say it,” Quinn whispered, breaking the quiet as they emerged from the cavern’s mouth.
Jace didn’t pretend not to know what he meant.
He stopped walking.
Quinn stopped too.
The wo
